Twisting Fate
by bblair89
Summary: Colt is an Arcadian Sentinel with a soft spot for the Katagaria he lives and works with. Anelise is the Arcadian Grand Regis for the Niphetos Pardalia (Snow Leopards) branch in Omegrion with a soft spot for almost no one. If there were ever two more unsuited Weres for each other, they certainly couldn't name any. Predictably (or not), the Fates have interesting plans for them...
1. Chapter 1

( I don't claim to own anything of the following; any characters mentioned belong to Sherrilyn Kenyon.)

Anelise went through her morning schedule, killing time until it would be dark in New Orleans. It'd been a few months since she'd met Aimee Peltier- the Bearswan who ran Sanctuary Bar in New Orleans- officially, and they'd been seeing a lot of each other since. If Anelise had been more adept at having friends, she might have counted the Bearswan as one. But she wasn't, so she continued to write off their unusually pleasant interactions as anomalies. The Bearswan seemed to find Anelise interesting, amusing even, at some times, and went out of her way to speak with Anelise, to continuously invite her back to the bar, to continue to count her as a friend.

Not that Anelise acted like a friend most times. She tried, but she'd be the first to admit she failed more often than she didn't. She was surly and prickly by nature, and try though she might, those traits were hard to overcome, even in the face of someone as unapologetically sweet as the Bearswan.

She drifted to the kitchen to prepare herself breakfast after tidying the few things that needed tidying. Living alone up in the Siberian arctic made for very little cleaning to be done. As she pulled out ingredients for pancakes, her mind strayed to a few days ago, the last time she'd been in the bar.

_"So, Regis," Aimee had opened with. Since Anelise typically referred to people and animals by either their official title or their -swan/-swain title, Aimee had taken to calling her 'Regis' when speaking to or about her. "Why do you live up in the arctic? Doesn't it get lonely?"_

_Anelise had rolled her eyes. It was an amusing trait of the Bearswan's that she was so consistently worried about being alone and being around others. The girl had probably never been left alone- in the true sense of the word- in her entire life. She was like Anelise's polar opposite in every way. The Bearswan was warm, endearing, if a little overly friendly for Anelise's taste. But still, she continued to return to the bar at the Bearswan's behest, continued to answer the girl's constant questions and pester the largely-Slayer barstaff. "I don't get lonely, Bearswan. I consider it relaxing, rather than lonesome. And I live there because the climate and territory is what I'm accustomed to." She'd answered patiently. For all her short fuses and quick tempered-ness, she found the Bearswan's constant curiosity about her life didn't annoy her as much as she'd have expected._

_"You don't get lonely? Bullshit. Everyone gets lonely." The girl scoffed, scrubbing at the bartop with a vigor to match her words._

_There was a quick flash of memory of her older brother, dead now for almost a century, and she frowned. "Well, I don't." She said, an edge to her words._

_"That can't be-"_

_"Drop it, Aimee." She'd snapped, causing the Bearswan's mouth to snap shut and her eyes to cloud with hurt. They'd drifted back to neutral topics, and she'd been surprised the Bearswan didn't finally kick her out and go back to her normal routine. But at the end of the night, the girl invited Anelise back for tonight, just like every other night she'd come._

_She had left as two Slayers came down, a Leopardswain and Lionswain. The Lion seemed determined to ignore her entirely, which was fine by her, but the Leopard and she had a violent, volatile relationship and it usually came to confrontation if they were in the same room. She'd left, head held high, ignoring the Slayers but baiting the Bearswain bouncer at the door with a taunting grin and a wave as she went to the alley she normally used for flashing._

She shook her head, banishing the memories, and went back to making herself breakfast. A few hours later, it was late morning in Siberia, and dark in New Orleans, and she flashed to her usual alley. She immediately felt that telltale prickle that signaled the presence of daimons, and looked around the corner, sighing in frustration when she saw no bouncer at the door to the bar. She cautiously made her way to the front door, ears pricked for the sounds of trouble, and was surprised to find the door shut and locked, a 'Closed until further notice' sign on the door. Her bad feeling intensified, and she wondered what was going on, but became distracted as a muffled crash sounded on the side of the building.

She ran to the mouth of the alleyway, and ducked as a daimon swung at her blindly, but wasn't quick enough to completely dodge the fist to her face, and felt rings on his fingers cut across her face, leaving little scores trailing blood across her face. She snarled and manifested a dagger and thrust upward, embedding it his chin, coming up out the top of his head. She yanked it out and stabbed his daimon inkblot, but instead of bursting into golden dust, he fell, his eyes blank and staring, the dagger still embedded in his blot. She only thought about it for a second as Aimee shrieked as she fought off another four. Anelise manifested a second dagger and jumped into the fray. She yanked one daimon back by her hair, driving the dagger downward toward her inkblot. Right as she made contact with the daimon woman, another man screamed in agony and jumped Anelise. His dagger dug into her side, and she yelped in pain. He wretched the dagger upward, opening her side up, blood spilling to the floor with a sickening splash. She dropped the daimon woman's dead body, and reached backwards to cup both hands around his head and flip him over her shoulder to slam his back onto the concrete, feeling her side scream in protest. She heard another screech from Aimee as the Bearswan finished one daimon and another attacked her from behind. Anelise focused back on the daimon on the ground in front of her, but the brief moment of hesitation gave him the opportunity to kick her feet out from under her. She landed hard, and he was on top of her, a foot coming down on one wrist, snapping it cleanly and causing her to snarl darkly and kick up at him. He rolled to the side, off her, but not before slamming the hilt of the dagger that had ripped open her side into her other side and causing a few ribs to crack. She finally gave in and shrieked in fury and manifested a sword, swinging it at him and slicing the sinew of his neck clean apart, causing him to suddenly stop moving and fall, motionless to the ground, his head detaching from his shoulders. She swiped an arm across her face, feeling the blood smear, and went to the Bearswan's side as she dug her own sword into the last daimon and shot Anelise a grin. "Thanks." The girl panted. "Dunno what I would've done if you hadn't showed up."

Anelise tried to catch her own breath, the wound on her side and broken ribs making simple breathes labored. "No problem. I love to start my night with a good bloodbath." She attempted a joke, but it came out strained and annoyed. "What was that, anyway? Does it have to do with the bar being closed?"

Aimee nodded, falling back against the wall for support. "Yeah. There's a group of daywalkers that threatened to burn the bar down. It's a..." The Bearswan paused to take another deep breath. "A precaution."

Anelise nodded, mimicking the motion, hearing the others coming out to the side alley in a panicked group as Aimee slid down the wall to crouch down. The Leopard and the Bearswain bouncer ran to Aimee's side, speaking with her in low tones, trying to keep her awake and conscious. Some others ran to see if there were any other daimons and to inspect the bodies of the day-walkers. The Sentinel alone came over to her, where she was braced against the wall for support, dabbing at the blood on her arms with a manifested rag, trying not to wince to obviously. She watched him as he came nearer, feeling her torn muscles tensing as though he were another threat, even though she knew that was absurd. And still, even with her feral reaction to him, he offered her a hand as the Leopard flashed out with Aimee, the Lion right after him, leaving two Bearswain brother's of Aimee's and another Pantherswain Slayer continued to inspect the day-walkers. "Let me help." He offered.

She felt like snarling at him, but she knew that was the pain talking, and she wasn't Katagaria, spitting and snarling at everything that moved, so she forced a civil reply, working to keep her voice level. "I don't need help."

* * *

Colt watched as Justin cocked his ears toward the door. "Did you hear that?" The dark-haired panther asked low. He moved to the door to listen, and did, in fact, hear a small, muffled sound. But then Dev was clapping him on the back with a meaty hand, and laughing. "Guys, relax. We're locked up tight, ain't nothing getting in here without our permission." He said assuredly.

Colt wasn't so confident, and he looked around, cataloguing who was here and who wasn't. The cubs were upstairs with the moms, his brothers were scattered around Peltier House and he'd accounted for them earlier; Justin, Dev, Kyle, and Angel were present, Trip and Dame were somewhere in the medical wing with Margie and Carsen and Aimee...

"Where's Aimee?" He suddenly snapped, causing the others to look around, the beginnings of fear in their eyes. Dev and Kyle exchanged a look and ran up the stairs to look for her where the rooms were, while Angel and Justin ran down to the bar. Colt headed for the offices and medical rooms on the current floor, and flashed to the bar when he had no luck. Dev was pacing back and forth in a rage, and Remi was cracking his knuckles over by the kitchen, Kyle at his side, wringing his hands nervously. "Et and Zar are staying up with the women and cubs, but Aimee's not up there with them." Dev reported grimly, pulling out a cell phone to try her.

A crash came from the front of the bar, and Dev and Remi were the first two out the door, Justin and Colt on their heels, while Angel and Kyle positioned themselves by the door in case whatever was outside decided to come in.

They didn't see anything, and a flash of movement directed them to the side alley, but by the time they got there, there were only day-walker daimon bodies, and two injured women. Aimee was slumped against the wall, lowering herself to crouch on the ground, her arms circled protectively around her still bleeding chest and stomach, her leg jutted out at an awkward and unnatural angle, her face a mess of cuts and bruises. Anelise Romano, the Arcadian Regis Aimee had recently become fascinated with, was still standing but leaning heavily against the wall, slowly and methodically cleaning the blood from her arms. She looked as bad as Aimee, with a nasty looking stab wound baring her side open and what looked like a potential broken wrist. She was leaning to one side over her ribs, which he knew from experience meant they were cracked, if not broken as well. But it was her face that made him pause. She eyed him dangerously as he neared her, her stormy gray eyes flashing, hair falling to shield part of her blood-smeared face, giving her a creepily feral look. She looked like she could do some serious damage, and judging by the five bodies lying down that she and Aimee took out on their own, the assumption probably wasn't that far off. He slowly offered her a hand, hoping she was coherent enough to realize the threat had passed. "Let me help." He said softly, trying to entice her back to the overly formal, proper woman who taunted the bar.

She looked about to snap at him, but reigned in the impulse, and settled for tightly responding, "I don't need help."

He sighed inwardly. He couldn't leave her like this. She was a Regis, after all. It was his duty to protect, even her; especially her. If Omegrion found out he'd let her bleed and leave without doing everything within his power to help her, he'd be in deep shit. But he could already tell this was going to be harder than it needed to be.

She was still glaring at him, the edges of a snarl curling her lips, but he could see the wariness and apprehension in her eyes, and he realized she was debating the pros of him healing her versus the cons of having to go inside and be trapped with a group of Slayers while injured. "I won't let anything happen to you." He reassured her. "Please." He added, knowing the guys would be back any second to retrieve him to heal Aimee. The last thing he needed was Justin or the others around the Regis, especially with her hurt and snappish.

Finally, she pushed off the wall, uneasy on her feet, and nodded. "Fine." She said loftily. He reached out quickly to help her steady herself, and she recoiled from his touch. Fan-fucking-tastic. This was going to be loads of fun. He reached further to touch her shoulder and flash the two of them to the medical wing, to a bed a couple yards away from Aimee's bed, where she was sitting as Carsen checked for a concussion and some the guys hovered by the door. She swayed, even more unbalanced on her feet after flashing, and he lifted her by her waist to set her on the table gently before it became obvious how weak she was. Her eyes calmed a trace, and she looked for a second about to thank him, but instead she looked at Aimee, her eyes icing over.

"Help the Bearswan first." She ordered, the kindness of her words all but completely nullified by the rude, commanding tone she said them in. He nodded, reigning in his impulse to snap, and handed her a bucket of warm water and a rag to start cleaning the blood from her arms and face while he went to tend Aimee.

She looked dazed, but not dying, and he sighed in relief. He went to her side, and waited for Carsen to finish. When the young vet did, he turned to Colt with a faint smile. "She's got a concussion, but she'll be fine, in my opinion. She's all yours." He said, stepping back to give Colt room to step forward. He did, and caught Carsen glance to Anelise and start to go over to her, but he stopped the doctor with a hand on his arm. "You might wanna leave her be. She's kind of... rough around the edges."

"She's a fucking bitch, is what she is."

"**Thank you**, Justin." He snapped in a tone that said 'Enough.' and Justin rolled his eyes and smirked as he and Remi turned to leave, satisfied that Aimee was going to be alright. He turned back to Carsen. "She's the Arcadian Snow Leopard Regis and she's really uncomfortable being here. I'll take care of her, just leave her be for now."

Carsen nodded with a frown. It went against his principles to leave someone unattended, but he trusted Colt's opinions, and rarely argued with his subtle orders. So the doctor washed his hands and disappeared to the back room to confer with Margie about Aimee.

He ruffled Aimee's hair affectionately, as he bent to inspect her. "Just can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you?" He scolded playfully. She gave him a sad, guilty smile, and he nudged one of the few unscathed parts of her arm. "I'm just kidding, Aims." He said, falling silent as he healed her leg, setting it properly and splinting it, despite her shriek of sudden pain and her trying to jerk out of his reach, causing his concentration to break. She'd be fine tomorrow at the rate Were's healed, with his help speeding up the process. He cleaned the gashes on her chest and stomach, and fixed a few deeper knife wounds littering her arms, shoulders and one particularly nasty one on her back. One she was mostly healed, he called for Margie and told her to start cleaning the remaining blood off Aimee's skin. Margie nodded, and began her task, and he went back to the Regis, who'd scrubbed most of the blood from her arms, hands, and side, but made only a faint progress with her face. The blood was faded, but she couldn't see where the blood was, and there was still some reddish/pinkish spots on her face where she hadn't scrubbed quite enough to completely rid herself of the bloody stains.

He approached her slowly, ignoring Dev and Angel as the latter loudly complained about tending useless Arcadian bitches as they left the room, and paused by the table, holding a hand out for the rag. "Can I help?"

She glared at him, but her tense posture relaxed a fraction after Angel and Dev had left, and she handed over the rag. He tossed it in the sink and knelt by the table to inspect her side. It was cut open, and it took a fair amount of effort and concentration to close the wound back up properly. She hissed in annoyance and pain, but didn't move, which he was grateful for, and he finished the wound and the ribs behind it, and stood, starting to feel the wooziness kick in from over-reaching himself. He moved onto her wrist, and set that one as well, but she stopped him from continuing to the other, smaller wounds. "You look sick," she said with an edge of distaste that made his blood spike. "Cuts and bruises I can handle."

He knew he should argue, but his legs were starting to give out on him, so he simply nodded, and fell into a chair a little harder than he meant to. He looked back to Margie and Aimee, but Margie had finished and gone into the back to dispose of the used rags, and Aimee was asleep, so neither saw his almost collapse. "You're free to leave now, if you want." He said, letting his eyes drift shut, hoping to still the room, which had started to tilt, like it did when he'd drunken too much.

* * *

She wasn't quite so tense after the Slayers left, but she was still wary of the Sentinel, even if she knew she had to trust that duty would win out over a sense of divine justice for his friends. She reluctantly handed him her rag and tried to stay as still as possible as he healed the worst of her injuries, but she couldn't help the hiss of pain that escaped, glad now more than ever that the Slayers had left the room, and Aimee was passed out in her own bed. She did stop him as he moved to start fixing her minor injuries. She was a Regis, not a fucking cub, after all, she could take a little bit of pain. Besides, he was looking more and more drained with every injury he healed. She could tell his nature wanted to argue with her, insist on finishing the job, but his exhaustion won out and he nodded wearily, sitting on the chair to his side with a heavy thud. He sat for a moment, then raised his very blue eyes to her. "You're free to leave now, if you want."

She immediately moved to get off the bed and flash home, but she paused. He'd been kind to her, healing her despite what he probably felt about her. She owed him at least something in return. She grabbed a new rag and ran the sink to soak it in cool water, and went to the Sentinel's side. She couched by his chair and pressed the rag lightly to his temple. He opened an eye to look at her curiously, and she sniffed at him. "You should've stopped while you were ahead. The ribs and wrist would have healed." She scolded, moving the rag to touch his forehead.

"I couldn't. It was like a compulsion." He joked wearily. She shook out the rag to cool it down again and pressed it back to his temple, not responding.

"You don't have to do this." He pointed out looking to the rag and back to her. He really did have exceedingly blue eyes, almost unnatural in their color. She shrugged. "The Bearswan's out cold, what else do I have to do? Besides, you didn't have to heal me, yet here we are."

"Yeah. Here we are." He repeated softly. She looked up to see if anyone was coming in. It wouldn't do for her to be caught tending to him like some lovestruck child pining after a Sentinel. But the door was solidly shut, and she could still hear Margie and Carson speaking in low tones. So she turned back to face Colton. "I suppose I owe you a thanks for helping me." She said.

"Stating that you do doesn't count as the actual apology, just so you know." He said, and she recognized the intent of teasing, but it still made her hackles rise a bit.

"I also didn't say I was going to thank you, just that I should." She snapped, and she watched his jaw work as he refrained from snapping back, though why he bothered refraining she had no idea. She glanced back at the Bearswan, but spoke to the Sentinel. "I owe you." She said as he started to rise but swayed on his feet, and she watched as he grabbed hold of the nearest counter for balance, realizing too late she should have offered support for him. "I have to go rest before I keel over." He said.

She nodded, stepping away from him, and tried to contain her smirk as the shriek of young cubs rang out. "Well. Good luck with the resting." She said sarcastically. He shot her a look, but it faded as thoughtfulness replaced it. She waited a few second, pure curiosity imploring her to know if he'd share his thoughts, and then he looked up at her. "You owe me? I've got a favor to ask."'

"How'd I know I'd regret saying that?" She said rhetorically. "What favor?"

"I've got a place away from the bar. I can't harness the Rytis as well as I need to. You can help me with that, and get me out of here."

She eyed him unhappily. "If you and I both leave, who's going to watch the Bearswan? Your little Slayer pets?" She snapped, and she saw the anger in his eyes at her flippant insult.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Are you going to help me or not?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's go. Whenever you come back, tell the Bearswan to call me so I can insure she's alright." She said. He held out a hand to her, and she hesitated a second before taking his hand and flashing them both, her focusing on the Rytis itself, and him on the destination. They landed in the middle of a marshy part of a bayou, near a small shed on a dock. "You're kidding. This is where you're going to get some rest?" She said doubtfully. He made his slow way inside, and she walked alongside him, in case he needed support.

"It's quiet, ok?"

"It's a shack." She said distastefully.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Once you're inside, I'll be gone. I'd hate for you to collapse after all the interest I've invested in you today." She said, her sarcasm making him roll his eyes. He got inside, but she hovered in the doorway, wrinkling her nose at the small, studio like space. He made it to the bed, and she flashed out, escaping before he could turn to say anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

~Colton? I can't find the bearswan, have you seen her?~

Colt sighed, hearing the Regis' voice sharply in his thoughts. He sighed from his spot sitting on the dock, laying back and knocked over one of the empty whiskey bottles. He'd been wrong. He'd come here because no one could find him, because no one knew where this place was. But he'd forgotten there was one creature who could; Anelise.

~Come here, and I'll tell you.~

He only linked back on a whim. It'd been months since their last encounter after the daywalker fight. The Leopardswan was still universally hated, save by Aimee, who's soft spot for the cold, oddly protective Were was still fully intact. And although Colt himself had felt that same weird fascination, he and the Regis were far from friends, and she had better things to do than come at the urging of a drunken Sentinel.

~Where are you?~ She sounded concerned, and for whatever reason, he found that comforting.

~The Bayou.~

She was there in an instant, standing over him looking down with an amused gleam in her sympathetic grey eyes. She crouched down next to him, but didn't touch him. She rarely touched anyone. It was a tic he'd yet to figure out. But she did nudge him with her knee. "C'mon big guy, up you go." She said, and he pulled himself into a sitting position.

"You came." He said, surprised.

She cocked her head to the side, looking more catlike than ever. "Of course I came. Why wouldn't I?" She sounded genuinely confused at his surprise.

He gazed out across the Bayou. "No one ever comes for me." He slurred, "I always come for everyone, but no one ever comes for me." He muttered.

She just straightened her head and lifted an eyebrow at him. "Have you ever asked anyone to?"

He paused, looking confused, and she gave a breath of what sounded like almost laughter, and settled primly down next to him, keeping her distance from him. "Maybe you should try it sometime." She offered.

"Is that what you do?" he asked in response, feeling bad when her smile faded.

"No bearswain. I've no one to ask, and thus ask for no one."

"You have Aimee..."

She nodded, but her sad, indulgent expression didn't change. "A good point. But that's only as of recently."

"And you have me." He was duty bound to protect the Regis, after all. And he respected her even as he may not like her all that much.

She rolled her eyes, but shot him an equally indulgent smile. "Also recently, Sentinel." She said, stressing his title.

"You know, you're not as mean as you want people to think." He commented, waiting for the irritation, the annoyance. But it was a laugh that echoed across the bayou.

"Well then. I'll have to work on that." She said, her laugh fading back to a faint frown. "What are you doing out here anyway? Hiding out from those heathens at the bar?"

The disdain and disgust in her tone rubbed him wrong. "They're not all rightful Slayers." He snapped, surprising himself by being the first to get irritated. "You judge them without even knowing them." He said, stumbling to his feet.

She rose to her feet in a fluid graceful movement. "I judge them based on their past actions. That you choose to home with them is your own mental disfunction, don't try to justify your bad decisions to me." She bit off the words like blows. This was the woman he was accustomed to.

"Don't get all bitchy and defensive just because I have a family that cares about me-" He was cut off by an indignant shriek from the Regis.

"Oh!" She screeched. "I'm sorry that I'm not as WONDERFUL as your pathetic little pack of criminals! If they care about you so damn much, why aren't you with them, instead of here, hiding out in the middle of a swamp, drowning your problems and bitching to a woman you don't even LIKE?!" She stood straighter, glaring at him like he was an enemy.

He took a step toward her, his anger making his words less slurred. "It's more complicated than that! And if I'm 'whining' too much, why did you come? Why stay?!" He yelled, gesturing widely to the surrounding swamp, the back of his mind telling him to be careful, to watch his step, the yelling never got him anywhere in Sanctuary.

She, though, could only squeal again. "YOU are the most impossible, most self-pitying, self-righteous, creature I've ever-!" She was cut off, not by the sting of a slap, as she'd half-expected, but by his lips on hers. He didn't think about kissing her, he didn't consider the consequences, he just did it. He was surprised when she didn't rip him to shreds, and before he could further consider the woman he was kissing, he flashed them inside the house, to the bed, and backed her up until her knees hit the mattress and she fell backwards, taking him with her.

He nipped the soft, pale skin at her neck, intoxicated by the scent of her, the sounds she was making, the feel of her hands yanking at his clothes like they were an enemy. He didn't sleep around with weres, not with Dark Hunters. The occasional squire, but they came with protective Dark Hunter issues. Often a human, but he worried over those, never able to fully let go, let both sides of him co-exsist. But the Leopardswan was arching her back, pressing against him, purring and growling like an animal with lust, her normally piercing grey eyes hazy with lust until they closed in pleasure. He felt his intense, highly trained control slipping. He wasn't too far gone to not be concerned about her, and he pulled back to look at her, casing her to whine plaintively. "Is this ok?"

"Shut up." She snarled, yanking him back to her by his collar for another scorching kiss that was as needy as he felt.

She was looking for an escape, like him, and the thought warmed him further to the prickly Regis. His hand slid up under her shirt and, with a thought, it was gone. She didn't seem to notice except to press further against his hand. The smoothness of her skin was broken by welts and scars, almost too many to count. Old, new, fresh and long since faded, she had them all. The feel of them stilled his movement. He had his own set of numerous scars, but he didn't often think about them, but hers made him pause, if only for a split second. The thought made his protective instincts stir for her through his drunken haze as he returned to her soft, willing body. One last whispered thought escaped from her to him, ~This is so not smart~, before all coherent thought abandoned him.

Hours later, Anelise found herself wide awake and pacing outside the little shack, trying to calm her racing nerves as she listened to Colton snore from inside. She'd put space between them immediately after they'd gone through with an act neither of them should have allowed to happen, but she'd been unable to stay awake and ended up dozing for a few hours. She'd awoken on his couch, and immediately changed her clothes and come straight outside to begin her frantic pacing.

She knew she should get back home, but she needed to make sure this stayed between them two, and she didn't want to disturb Colton as he slept. So she'd wait for him to wake, make sure they had a mutual understanding that this could never get out, and leave. Simple.

She didn't know how long she'd been pacing when she heard the door creak open. "Anelise?" he called as he came outside, coming up short at the sight of her. "Oh." He raked a hand through his hair, looking abashed. "Hey."

"Hi." She knew she didn't looked abashed or uncomfortable, just irritated. She'd long ago perfected the mask that hid her emotions; none would peek through. Silence ensued for a while, and she decided to just get it over with. "So listen, about what happened-"

"Yeah, I wanted to-"

"DON'T apologize." She warned dangerously, her eyes flashing. "You'll just insult me. I just wanted to make sure we had some sort of understanding that this-" she gestured to them both, "cannot happen again and that it'd probably be best that we not tell anyone this happened. Ever."

He looked a little surprised, little insulted himself, but he didn't hesitate to agree. "Yeah. I mean, it was just the one time-"

"And you were drunk."

"And it's not like we ever could-"

"Or tell anyone-"

"They'd never understand-"

"So good." She concluded. "We're in agreement, then."

He nodded decisively. "Good." He paused, looking back at the shack and back to her. "Did you want to shower or something?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, I need to return to- ow!" She yelped, her palm burning. She gasped, instantly knowing what it meant, and stared at her palm in horrified shock as a mating mark burned itself onto her palm. Once it was finished, she looked up to meet Colton's equally aghast eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

She, however, wasn't so silent. "No." She whispered the first denial, her protests quickly growing louder to a shriek. "No no no no NO!" She screamed, grabbing a fistful of hair with the not-Marked hand, shaking in rage and horror, and let out a scream of frustration as she flashed out, presumably back to her home.

Colt remained still and shocked, staring at the spot she'd just vanished from, suddenly dead sober. "Oh shit..." he breathed.

He flashed back to Sanctuary to find Aimee. She'd know how to find Anelise. Not that he had any idea what he was going to say to the Regis once he found her. But he had to find her. "Aimee?" he called as he came out of the third floor office, loping down the steps to the bar.

"Downstairs!" Her voice came from the bar, and he jogged down to the floor and saw Aimee waiting tables. He went to her side and pulled her away from the tables, ignoring the protest behind them. "Where does Anelise live?"

She looked at him oddly. "Anelise... Romano, right?" She asked bemusedly. He sighed in exasperation. "Yes. I just need to ask her something." He said, being purposefully vague, casually keeping his hand out of sight even though he'd hidden the mating mark with his powers.

"I can ask her for you." She offered.

"NO." He snapped, but quickly recovered, "It's just, it's private stuff. Stuff I need to talk to the Regis about." He played with his wording, hoping she would assume it had to do with Sentinel duties. She tried not to pry into his other side of life, even though she was officially a Regis herself.

She eyed him, and he prayed she wouldn't question further; he really didn't want to have to lie to her. But he needed this situation figured out before he started revealing it to anyone. But finally, she shrugged, going back toward the bar as she spoke, him on her heels. "I've been, but I couldn't tell you coordinates. Bikel, Baikal, something like that. In Siberia. It's like, ridiculously off the grid, though."

"Could you take me?"

She suddenly turned on him, hands on her hips, her bright eyes glaring at him suspiciously. "What's this about, Colt?"

He forced himself to meet her eyes. "I just need to talk to her."

Her glare didn't let up. "She might kill you for randomly showing up at her house, you realize that?"

He bit back a wry laugh. Oh, that was the least of the reasons the Regis wanted to kill him right now. He nodded, and she shrugged. "Your funeral." She led him back up the stairs to the office and grabbed his hand, taking them both to the yard of a large, snow covered house with 360 views of mountain below them. The sounds of things being shattered and high-pitched shrieking rang from inside the house, and Aimee winced. "Reconsidering yet?"

If only. "Nah, I'll see you later Aims. Thanks."

She rolled her eyes and flashed out, leaving him on the freezing cold doorstep of the creature that potentially hated him most on this planet right now. He took a deep breath and knocked, and the door flew off it's hinges. He sighed and walked inside. The house was in shambles, the exact opposite of how he'd pictured it and the opposite of how he suspected it normally looked. Furniture was overturned, lamps and vases lay in pieces on the floor, and there were two broken picture windows with chair-sized holes through them.

"What?" Her voice snapped at him from above him, and he looked up to see her standing on one of the rafters across the ceiling. She stood tall and regal, reminding him of the stories of fallen angels. Her tone made his hackles rise, but then she tilted her head slightly and he caught the shining of tears in her eyes. With that, his anger fled. He'd always been a sucker for tears.

"We should talk." He started.

She shook her hair out of her eyes, and her tone was practically acidic when she replied. "About WHAT, precisely? How we managed to completely destroy our lives with one drunken mistake? Is THAT what we should 'talk' about?"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and snap back. As much as it infuriated and frustrated him, what happened next was up to her. So he had to at least try to stay in her good graces. "Yeah, that's sort of along the lines of what I was thinking, anyway."

She sighed, and fell backwards off the rafter, flashing midair and landing sprawled on the long sectional couch. SHe groaned, slinging an arm over her eyes. "We've ruined everything, haven't we?"

He came to sit next to her. "Kind of, yeah. But it's not like we meant to." He insisted, settling next to her, his leg brushing hers. She immediately moved her leg so they weren't touching, and he resisted another sigh. How could they be mates if she couldn't even stand touching him? "So what are we supposed to do?"

She shrugged, still covering her face. "Kill one of us?" She suggested, only half kidding. He laughed in surprise. "Any suggestions that don't involve death?"

She just groaned again, and he'd had it with her obscuring her face from view, and reached over to tug her arm away from her eyes. She didn't snarl at him, just glared and yanked her arm back to her and out of his grip. "Don't get too comfortable Sentinel." She warned, and it was understood that she meant with her in specific, not with anything general. He let her pull away without argument, and she didn't re-cover her eyes. "I just wanted to be able to actually see you when I'm talking to you."

"You don't need to touch me to do that." She snapped back. He could feel them slipping into some half-familiar pattern of bickering, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. But he couldn't stop his sarcastic, bantering reply.

"Because asking would have actually worked."

Her eyes flashed, but a smirk lifted her lips. "You know," she said, her voice suddenly calmer, "If we weren't mated, I could learn to like you, Sentinel."

He smiled through a sigh. "Yeah, you too Regis." He replied. They sat in silence for a few long minutes, then he glanced to the kitchen. "You got anything to drink?"

She waved a blithe hand toward the kitchen. "Help yourself."

He got up to go check the fridge. "Not the hospitable type, huh?"

She looked back over her shoulder to glare at him, and he was surprised to see a twinge of hurt in her eyes. But there was only bored disdain in her reply. "I rarely have need to be. My mountain is usually quite peaceful and EMPTY." she said pointedly.

He nodded, looking in the fridge. "Beer?" He asked, wanting to laugh when she wrinkled her pert little nose.

"I have wine."

He manifested his own beer. "I'll pass. You want anything?"

"My life back?" She complained, standing from the couch. "I don't know what you think is happening, your getting comfortable in my house, but I can assure you I don't like it. You and I are not friends, and are only mates because the fates decided I'd apparently not had enough hardship in life as of yet. You may stay if you have to, there's a bedroom down the hall," she nodded to the darkened hall to their right, "that's always free. I don't care what you do so long as you stay away from there," She gestured to a loft connected to the main floor by nothing more than a ladder, "That's my room, and nothing more. You'll have no reason to be there."

He looked up at the room that was essentially an open air loft. "You sleep up there? By choice?"

She looked confused, then uncomfortable, then annoyed, all in the span of a few seconds. He had a feeling that being confused and uncomfortable annoyed her, among everything else in life. "Yes. Why else would I do it?" She didn't wait for an answer. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Colton." And without waiting for him to respond, she flashed upstairs, and the sounds of a sink started running.

He stood in unsure silence for a while, but decided that sleeping it out tonight and trying to talk to her once she'd calmed in the morning couldn't possibly ruin anything anymore than it already had been, so he made his way to the bedroom she mentioned to try to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**DAY 3 of 21**

Three weeks. Three fucking weeks of peace and quiet was all she asked. And was that too much to ask? Apparently so. She snarled to herself as she shifted forms and ran across the ice. Flashing would be so much faster, but with their proximity to the north pole, the magnetic force played havoc on their powers. One reason she continued her mother and grandfather's traditions and kept the village so close to the human village, to discourage Weres from flashing in and out. At least if they were running, they left a trail. She lowered her nose to the ice, and tried to pick up the stench of her cousin. She'd been around these parts too often for her liking. It wasn't by mistake that Anelise kept her home an easy three hundred miles away from the village. Even flashing, it's take anyone hours to get there, since the only safe way to flash was to do it in short intervals, for short distances. A flash to the next mountain top over, to the furthest you could see if you were confident in your powers, which most of her pack weren't. Her pack was a physical pack, bred by centuries of making home so near the poles. When magic was chancy at best and downright temperamental at worst, you learned to use other skills.

She caught the scent of her cousin, and started running. She came up short as Nera appeared in front of her. She flashed human and Nera scowled, but it was tinged with a strange sort of happiness, like the cat that ate the canary. "What are you smiling about?" Anelise snapped, even though her cousin was technically scowling.

"You smell different." Nera said, her voice non-confrontational, which immediately put her guards up. "You smell like something... new. And unusual for these parts... something... male..." She trailed her words slowly, like a dagger drawn slowly across flesh. Anelise felt her jaw clenching. No. She couldn't have figured- "And Ursulan." Nera said, staring straight at Anelise. Anelise felt a chill run down her spine as Nera shot an unmistakable look to her mated palm. "I'm sure the family will be thrilled." she laughed at that. "Oh, wait, you've no family left. I guess that leaves the pack."

"Don't you fucking dare-" Nera flashed out, and Anelise cursed a blue streak under her breath. Her pack was not the kind to tolerate inter-species mating. Especially not from their Regis. The lack of offspring alone made it nearly impossible for anyone to accept. She felt goosebumps spread across her skin as she thought of what they might do to her for this. As though life wasn't goddamn complicated enough. She shook her head irritably, began the trip of flashing. She was slightly better skilled than her pack, but she tried often not to use. It was annoying to try to control it with the magnetic interference, and it usually gave her a migraine. And seeing her pack gave her enough of a migraine on it's own.

She reached the village in a little less than two hours, and padded through the ice cave that marked the entrance to their territory in the hills. She'd only gotten about partway there before she was ambushed from her right and from above, and she spun with a roundhouse kick to the one at her side, and somersaulted the one off her back, and pinned him down in the ice. The woman from her side glared at her from the snow, but only rose to incline her head respectively. Anelise rose from pinning the man, and stalked past him into the village, he and the woman following along at a respectful pace. She brushed snow off her shoulders, glad at least that the guards were still at their posts, and that they weren't still attacking. Nera hadn't gotten to them yet. So anarchy hadn't completely descended quite yet. It was something. She glanced around, the old familiar hurt creeping up as windows shut and doors locked as she passed the narrow, colonial row-houses. The pack feared her, and rightfully so. But that didn't mean that the isolation of being Regis didn't still sting occasionally. But she held her head high as she walked through the village to the dais at the far end.

She hopped up on it as the guards reluctantly brought out all adults old enough to be involved. Nera stalked to the other end of the dais, stepping onto it with a rough sort of grace and a dangerous smile on her lips. Anelise ignored her, it was Nera's right as Anelise's deceased adopted brother's former mate to speak if she wished it. She'd have to defend herself to the best of her ability. Only once everyone was settled- as much as they ever settled, bodies eerily still, jaws clenched, fists held taut, eyes glowing with rebellion and contempt- she spoke.

"It has been brought to my attention that some of you have been blatantly disregarding my rules of not putting our discovery at risk." She began, her eyes sweeping the crowd in a deceptively casual way, but she noted the ones that wouldn't meet her eyes, the ones that glanced at others, the ones who paled. Far more than she'd have preferred, but honestly, it didn't really surprise her all that much. Nera was well liked and held the sympathy of the pack. She was charming and persuasive in a way Anelise was not, and it showed. Had Nera thought she was able to take Anelise in a physical or magical fight, she'd convince the pack to follow her instead. The only thing Anelise had going for her was respect and fear, but it was enough to keep control of her regency, even in an Arcadian pack. Arcadians weren't as... feral, as their other halves, and though most of their decisions were made by diplomacy, there were still decisions that were made for them. Inherited right to the regency was one. A member of Anelise's immediate family had been Regis for generations, and with her parents and brother all dead, she inherited the title. That wasn't to say it couldn't be taken from her. But most of the families had been around long enough to know not to tangle with her. The pack would follow Nera if she took the title, but they'd never turn against Anelise for fear of the consequences should Nera lose. Because Anelise would fight, and she would win. Even if Nera refused to fight for the title, Anelise would kill her for the mutiny. Clean, simple, no strings. She might be bad-tempered and violent, even as Snow Leopards went, but she wasn't one for backstabbing. If she wanted you dead, she announced it, announced why, and killed you. But today, Nera had a weapon Anelise wasn't sure she could combat.

"Funny you should speak of keeping us safe." Nera spoke up, cutting off Anelise's sentence. Anelise glared at her, her jaw clenched.

"Shut up Nera." She threatened.

"You don't want to tell them? Fine. I will. Sisters and brothers, I and some of my closer friends have been near to our dear Regis' territory, the mountaintop hundreds of miles away from us in our village. And we've seen something disturbing, happening more and more often. An Arcadian Ursulan has been seen cavorting with our Regis. I did some digging, and found something horrifying." She announced loudly, stalking over to Anelise and yanking her mated hand up to show the crowd. An audible gasp rippled through the crowd, and those slight mumblings of discord became a cacophony of rebellion.

"Everybody shut the FUCK UP!" Anelise roared, and the crowd quieted, but the rebellion was stirring, and she had to act. "There is no discernible difference between my being mated to an Ursulan and my not being mated at all. The result is the same. No heir. We will, as we have planned for years now, vote on a leader from our next generation. That. Has. Not. Changed." She spoke each word slowly, clearly, menacingly.

"What if you do reproduce?" A voice asked in the crowd, and she set her glare on one of Nera's more adamant supporters.

"We will cross that bridge if and when if happens."

"You can't expect an abomination to rule our pack?" That voice wasn't a fan of Nera's. It was a woman Anelise knew, if only barely, in that way she knew everyone in the pack. Miriam. She had three children. Skye, Damian, and the youngest, Corbin. She had right to be afraid of the future, with so many children in it.

"I did not say the child, if there is ever a child, will rule. But I will not rule it out as it is unclear as of now."

"But I-"

"Do not have a say. So silence yourself." Anelise warned, and the woman fell quiet, even as her eyes still stepped forward again. "Brothers and sisters, she admits to not disowning any mutt of a child she would bear. Do you think it's so farfetched to think she'd let such a monster rule your children, force itself on your children in order to bear more monstrosities to rule their children? Will this continue for generations? Will we allow her to pollute our bloodstream? Will we allow this?" She called into the air. The call of approval for Nera, the bloodlust for Anelise, was deafening.

"We will find the Ursulan, and he and his new mate will die the deaths they deserve!" Nera cried, thrusting her fist in the air. The crowd cheered with her, throwing their arms up in the air, and Anelise felt her vision go red. Colton might be a pain in the ass, and he might protect and befriend creatures that would be better dead. He might be too willing to accept this, but he was good. Far better than Anelise, that much was certain. And he didn't deserve to die.

She stepped forward, to the edge of the crowd. "SILENCE!" She roared, her word slipping into a feline roar. The crowd quieted a bit, even now wary of her temper, and she spoke. "There will be no hunt for the Ursulan." She announced, careful to avoid his name. She wouldn't give them any way to find him."If punishment is your desire, take it out on me. IF you pathetic waifs manage to kill me, the bond will be broken, and you'll have nothing to fear. That IS what will happen. Who will face me first?"

Five men and three women stepped forward, aside from Nera. Nine fucking fights. It was gonna be a long night...

She stalked to the ring they usually reserved for training, and waited for them to decide amongst themselves who would be first. A woman followed her, Patricia. Old, but not so old that she'd be an easy fight.

She attacked first, and Anelise resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She spun to the side, catching the woman by her clothes and sent her headfirst into the high wall surrounding them. Patricia's momentum made it easy, and she slammed into the wall, but rebounded quickly. Anelise was on her almost instantly, lifting a leg to swing a kick into the woman's ribs, sending her to the ground. She went to pounce on the woman, but the woman brought her legs to her chest and caught Anelise mid-pounce, and threw her over Patricia's head. She rolled into a crouch, and rose to meet Patricia's flying fists. She dropped to a crouch again and swept her leg under Patricia's legs, taking them out from under her and giving Anelise the opportunity to land a crippling blow to the woman's ribs. Patricia cried out, and Anelise landed one more for good measure before stepping back. "Get up. I'll hear nothing more from you. Next!"

A man this time. He tossed her a sword, and she laughed. She threw it at him, and he dodged, as she'd expected, and she smirked as he ran at her, using her power to make the weapon boomerang around to strike him straight through a shoulder. He yelped, and Anelise struck, yanking the sword out of his shoulder and stabbing him again, through the arm holding his sword, pinning it to the ground, and took his sword from his twitching hand to stab it through his other arm, pinning that one as well. He winced and waited for another man to release him, and slowly made his way off the battleground, leaving a trail of blood. The next woman approached, and she threw two daggers before Anelise could blink, one embedding in her forearm, one in her thigh. She shrieked in outrage, yanked the two out and paced a slow circle around the woman. She used her powers to lift one dagger, making it circle the other way, and making it impossible for the woman to keep her eye on both daggers at once. Using her powers, she stabbed the woman once from behind, and then again, and the woman spun to block another attack, turning part of her back to Anelise, and Anelise was immediately on her back, an arm wrapped around her ribs, the dagger at the woman's throat. "Call the fight." She whispered, and the woman growled, making Anelise press the dagger deep enough to draw blood. A millimeter more, and she'd puncture her jugular. "I call!" The woman cried. Anelise threw her away, back to the ground, and turned to meet the next contender. The last woman approached, flinging herself into the fight with skill that betrayed her years. She landed as many blows as she took, and by the time Anelise had her on the ground, one of Anelise's hands around her throat, Anelise was bleeding from the stab wounds, from scratches and blows on her face and arms, and her legs were more bruise than skin. But she'd won again. The fights were beginning to take their toll. Any more injuries, and even if she wanted to fight in her other form, she wouldn't be able to change. But for now, she retreated to her Leopard form. She couldn't use any but the most basic of her powers in this form, but she felt more capable, armed with teeth and claws and thick fur protecting her skin. The men wouldn't fight fair, and no amount of magic would help her against Nera.

The next man laughed. "Turning feral on us, Regis?" He taunted, mocking her title and changing to his own leopard form. He leapt at her, but she was smaller and more agile, and she slipped her way under him as he went airborne and came up under his belly, tearing at it with teeth and claws. He rolled, protecting his stomach, and lashed out at her, catching the side of her face, leaving four deep scores across her face. She roared and jumped at his throat, clamping onto it and holding on, feeling the bloodlust coming on. She forced herself away from him as his movement slowed. She hoped he wasn't dead as she backed away, but then he changed back human and two others ran to help him off the ground and to the healer, and another man stepped forward, changing forms. He stalked around Anelise slowly studying her for weakness, and she walked stiff-legged in a circle, trying to show him none. They circled for almost an entire minute, then she ducked her head to lick at her leg, still bleeding, feigning pause. He took the bait, and ran at her, but she dodged at the last second, clamping her teeth onto his tail, making him roar in anger and pain. She yanked at his tail, hearing bones crack, but he spun around with a vicious paw, knocking her off, and he jumped on her, his teeth coming at her. She barely managed to dodge the killing blow, but his teeth sunk into her shoulder, and she cried out, pushing at him violently with her back paws, tearing at his underside with her back claws, and he let go. She flashed human, unable to stay Leopard, and summoned all her powers to yank the sword from a previous fight and send it straight into his chest. He roared and the others ran to dislodge it as he fell to the ground. She was getting sloppy. The next one she might kill in her desperation not to die. A picture of Colt flickered through her mind, and she cursed herself for getting involved in this. But she knew; he'd do it for her. If only because of duty and honor, he would do it. She owed him at least the same.

She still lay in the dirt as the next man came in, smiling at the ease he supposed this would be. She glared at him, and eyed the mace he held. Jace had always been one for dramatics. She closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could, and heard the screams as his violent weapon turned on him. She heard the thing drop to the ground, and opened her eyes, waiting for the next fight. Nera approached, and Anelise watched her snap at another man who'd obviously backed out of his fight. Thank gods. Nera came in with bloody intent, just her and her fists. She didn't waste any time, she came in, stalked to Anelise, who scrambled to get up. Nera picked her up by the collar of what was left of her shirt, and slammed a fist into her face, sending her sprawling backwards. Anelise landed in a heap on the ground, struggling to get up, but Nera was faster. Another hit, then another, then another. Anelise lay, still and unmoving, listening for Nera to come closer. She heard the footsteps, and once the were close enough, she threw her leg to the side. Nera jumped it, but she was unprepared for Anelise's other leg to come the same direction, and she went to the ground. Anelise jumped on top of her, pounding into Nera with the last of her strength, until she felt hands pulling her away. She turned to lash out at them, but recognized her guards. The few Leopards left the she still held the favor of. They pulled her off Nera and helped her to the healer, who reluctantly offered a bed. She refused help, but accepted her guards' offer to stay with her until she could leave.

She fell asleep, and when she woke, she was feeling better. Not completely, but well enough to flash. She left, still bloodied, but able to flash, and made her slow, methodical way home. She finally made it to her yard, and let herself fall into the snow, letting the cold soothe her injuries for a while. She finally got up, and limped into the house, cursing another blue streak when she saw Colton already there, getting himself a beer in the kitchen. He looked up, and his expression dropped faster than the beer bottle in his hand. "Anelise, what happ-"

"Nothing. Leave me alone."

"Can I at least see-"

"No." She snapped quickly. He could help her, she knew that. But his helping her would lead to questions she didn't want to answer. She didn't want to explain her fighting, didn't want to explain her pack's disapproval, didn't want to make him feel guilty, didn't want any of it. She just wanted to sleep.

He stepped over the broken glass in the kitchen, the glass disappearing as he did so, trying to go to her side but unsure how that would be received. "Anelise, you can't just-"

"I can. I am. Leave it alone, Colton." She snapped again, making it to the ladder and flashing to her bedroom. She heard the creak as he set a foot on the bottom rung, debating climbing up to force her to accept his help. But the creak stopped at one, and she heard him walk back to the living room, and heard him settle on the couch. She sighed in relief, but tensed as his voice rose again. "If you change your mind, I'm staying the night. Don't worry about waking me."

A kind offer, considering he didn't like her anymore than she liked the situation. But she knew herself, if nothing else. And she wouldn't be changing her mind. She gingerly laid on the bed, thinking she should clean herself, but was too hurt, and too tired to worry much, and she fell into a fitful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**DAY 5 of 21**

A few days passed since Anelise came home mysteriously covered in blood and bruises and refused to explain herself or her injuries, and they fell into an uneasy pattern. He'd go to work, stay as long as they needed him, and afterwards he'd go to Anelise's snow covered home to try to get to know his new mate. So far, in his time, he hadn't learned much. She mostly seemed once of those what-you-see-is-what-you-get types. Cold, snappish, thin-tempered, but oddly formal and polite.

Today was the day he'd promised himself he'd tell the staff of Sanctuary what was going on. He walked to the kitchen to see Anelise perched on the counter. The woman seemed to have an aversion to resting with her feet on the ground; she was always sitting on counters, on the backs of couches, on her rafters, on her ladder or in a windowsill. He'd actually grown accustomed to it in the past days. He walked to the fridge, feeling her eyes on him. She always seemed equal parts irritated and fascinated to find him still here, and studied him in that eerily still way cats had. "I'm gonna tell the guys what's going on between us today." He said as he opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. Since that first night, she'd stocked the kitchen with things he liked or mentioned liking.

"So you might not come back tonight." She said in a tone that suggested she was finishing his thought for him, but her voice was even. Ever since they'd mated, her opinion hadn't changed of the guys of Sanctuary, but she'd become more tolerant of the mentions of the guys, as though guilt of being responsible for the inevitable change in the relationship between him and the guys made her more more accepting.

He turned to meet her clear grey eyes, so discerning and unreadable, a scowl darkening his expression. "No. I was going to say 'so I might be late'. I will be here tonight, Anelise, just like every other night."

She watched him for a few long minutes, then shrugged and broke eye contact, looking out one of her windows. "Don't rush on my account. Take care of your li-" she broke off, cutting the insult short before it could roll off her tongue. "Your friends. I was going for a run anyway."

"And a hunt?" One thing he'd learned, accompanying her on occasion, was that she was one of the fiercest fighters he'd ever seen. She fought in her Leopard form with an ease you didn't see in most Arcadians. And when she fought, she fought for keeps. Win, or die trying.

She turned her eyes back to him. "Maybe."

"Would you wait for me?"

Her eyes turned suspicious. "Why?" She asked, her tone snappish. He shrugged, not rising to the bait. "Because I want to come." He said simply, even though that wasn't necessarily the whole truth. It was part of it, and partly because he liked watching her hunt and fight, and partly because he felt responsible for her safety. She'd mentioned in passing her harsh, disobedient family enough times that the protective animal in him didn't want her taking unnecessary risks without him around to back her up. But he'd never tell her that. She was too proud to accept anyone's concern for her, and she'd probably run off to actively find trouble should he say anything like what he was thinking.

She eyed him as though she could read his thoughts, then matched his shrug. "Fine, I'll wait then." She allowed, her voice still prickly with ice.

He nodded, and walked over to throw away his empty can, and touched her hand in farewell. "I'll see you tonight." He said, pleased that she at least hadn't yanked her hand away. It was progress, of sorts.

He flashed to the office in Sanctuary, and padded down the stairs to the bar area. He spotted Aimee coming out of the office, and loped over to her to grab her arm and yank her into the back closet and shut the door behind them. "I seriously need to talk to you."

She laughed at his stealthiness. "Does this have to do with this?" She asked, lifting his mated palm. He scowled and masked it, taking it away as easily as he did his Sentinel markings. "Do we finally get to find out who?"

He nodded reluctantly. Yeah, uhm, about that. It's... Anelise."

Her eyes practically popped out of her head and she clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent a shriek. A minute passed, and she lowered her hand. "Oh. My. **God**." She muttered, shocked, and the suddenly, she looked disgusted. "Ew! Colt! That means you slept with one of my closest friends!" She accused.

He couldn't fucking believe this. "Are you seriously telling me that that is the only thing this means to you?!" He snapped.

"Well, no. It means you, my friend and brother, are royally fucked when everyone finds out." She said, and he sighed, grateful that she grasped "But **more **importantly, it means you **slept** with one of my closest friends! Gross!"

He face palmed. "Aims!" He whisper-shouted. "Focus! Please. How am I supposed to tell everyone and not get kicked out of the bar?"

"I would start with an apology and go from there." She said, shrugging.

He groaned. "I can't believe my entire life is going to shit because of one drunken clusterfuck of a mistake."

His adopted sister looked annoyed. "Charming, bro. I sure as hell hope you don't' say shit like that to Anelise. She doesn't put up with shit for long."

"For long? Try at all." He muttered. "And she thinks the same thing, if not worse. She's no happier about this than I am."

Aimee laughed. "Yeah, I can only imagine." She pushed open the door and started to make her way back to the bar. "Good luck bro. I wish I could help." And she did look sincere, if a little more amused than he'd have appreciated. He followed her out to the bar and started his shift, waiting for the guys to come down. He'd have preferred to tell them alone, or in pairs, but as luck would have it, Justin- potentially his roughest critic aside from Angel- came down with Dev and Remi, followed shortly by the rest of the Howlers in a loud, raucous group. Fuck his life. Oh, wait, Fate already did.

He went for the Howlers first. They were his closest friends, they deserved to know first. "Hey guys, can I catch you alone for a second?" He said, striding over. They nodded, and they group went to the far side of the stage. "Look, about the mating thing-"

"You ever gonna tell us who?" Angel interrupted. He'd been the most annoyed to not know next to Justin, and Colt knew he suspected the worse. Or so he thought. He doubted even Angel suspected it was as bad as it really was.

"Yeah, if you'd give me a second," He snapped, his nerves making him agitated. Angel glared but clicked his teeth shut defiantly. His defiance gave Colt the push he needed to say it and not back down.

"This is gonna sound crazy, and nothing's been decided yet, but the woman is Anelise." He said quickly, prepared for the outbursts.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. "Angel snarled furiously, followed quickly by the rest of the protests.

"The fuck are you talking about?"

"You slept with that bitch?!"

"What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"Colt," Angel growled past them. "Tell us you're kidding. Tell us you're fucking with us and that you didn't do this. Tell us she did something, arranged this..." He said, and behind the anger, he could hear the pain of betrayal, and it killed him. Bt he wouldn't put this all on Anelise, wouldn't add another betrayal to his list.

He could only shake his head. "She didn't. I'm not kidding. It was a stupid, drunken mistake and-"

Angel slammed past the rest of them and back up the stairs, shoving tables out of his way. Trip gave him a disgusted look, and the other two just shook their heads and went to inspect their instruments. He sighed, and braced himself, going over to where Justin and the other two were watching curiously. Justin watched him warily, probably knowing that he'd have a similar reaction to Angel to whatever Colt was about to tell him. Aimee watched with a distraught expression, and ran up the stairs after Angel.

"What the fuck was that about?" The panther snarled.

"My mating. There's really no way around it; I'm mated to Anelise, the Regis."

Dev let out a loud guffaw laugh, but his laughter fell quiet as he realized Colt wasn't kidding. Remi stomped over to the remaining Howlers, and Justin skittered back a few steps, shock and betrayal written across his face that made Colt feel even worse. Justin opened his mouth to say something, but ended up just chucking his beer across the bar to shatter it against the wall and stomp off in the direction Angel went, back to Peltier House. Colt hung his head and Dev looked to Colt with a strange mix of disgust and guilt on his features. "Maybe you should take the day off, man." He suggested. Colt nodded and went to the side alley and flashed out, back to Anelise's.

He ended up right outside the house, and paused for a minute, rubbing his temples, rubbing his eyes in frustration. He went inside, and froze at the sight of a plate of food, and a beer sitting on the counter, propped in ice. "Anelise?" He called, weirded out.

"What?" She snapped, peering at him from her loft rom, looking irritated at the interruption to whatever she was doing. He'd learned to ignore her snaps, that they rarely meant anything against him in particular, but rather, life in general.

He pointed to the counter. "Is that for me?"

She shrugged. "The beer, yes. The rest, sure."

He watched her for a long second, grabbing the beer, and she started to fidget uncomfortably, and she vanished back into her loft save for her acidic voice floating back to him. "I've waited long enough for you. We're leaving in ten!"

He scowled at her announcement. Poor little Snow Leopard, having to lounge around home while he ruined every friendship he'd ever had. "I'm not going anymore!" he called up.

Suddenly, she had flashed in front of him, her scowl matching his. "What do you mean, you're not going anymore? I've been twiddling my fucking thumbs all day because you insisted on coming, and now you're just 'not coming'? I don't think so. Ten minutes."

All at once, the day's events- the past day's- came crashing down on him, and it was too much. He slammed his beer down on the counter and turned on her. "Oh, well I'm sorry that you were sitting up here on your ass while I had to do the hardest thing in my life. I just had to tell every member of my home, of my family, about my being mated to someone they consider the enemy! I've ruined every fucking relationship I've ever had, but I'm sorry that my train wreck of a life has made your day fucking **boring!" **She watched him wide-eyed, and he continued, every frustration he had spilling over. "I can't always be fucking perfect! I can't make you happy and make them happy and watch everyone at the bar and make sure that no one's trouble ends with them dead! I can't be a proper Sentinel and be a proper friend to my family so I ended up half-assing both of them! So let's just add 'bullshit mate' to my list of fuckups!" He yelled, slamming his fist into the wall near him and standing still for a moment, his breathing as labored as though he'd just run a marathon. He felt the urge to apologize to Anelise bubbling up, but before he could, she smirked and replied, her voice perfectly even and calm, if a little amused. "Feel better now?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes," he replied, surprised. "I do, actually."

She smiled, seemingly unaffected by his outburst. Actually, she seemed more at ease than he'd ever seen her before, as though his outburst had calmed her. "Good." She chirped, and actually leaned in to brush her lips so lightly across his cheek it could hardly count as an actual kiss. She went toward the front door. "I'll be hunting if you have need of me." She called behind her.

He didn't know what possessed him, but he went after he, catching up to her in two long strides, and caught her by her wrist, pulling her back into his arms for a hug. She seemed shocked, and a little uneasy about the contact, but she didn't push him away. After a few uneasy seconds, her arms wrapped around his waist, growing tighter until she was clinging to him. His arms tightened around her in gratitude to her for not getting upset, for not yelling back, for letting him get everything off his chest. He never yelled, he never wanted anyone to know how stressed he was. But she didn't even know him, and she stood there and listened to him yell and scream and rage and hadn't even blinked. She'd smiled and kissed him- sort of- and made him feel normal again. He pulled back to look down at her. "You act like you've never been hugged before."

She shrugged from inside his arms. "Not since I was a child. My pack, they're... not the huggy, fuzzy types."

He blinked in surprise. "You're kidding?"

She shook her head, looking oddly innocent as confusion overtook her features. "No. Why would I kid about something so ridiculous?"

He didn't respond, just pulled her back to him. He'd never thought he'd go so far as to pity the icy Leopardswan, but he felt his protective instincts stirring for her. No wonder she was such a bitch. She allowed it for a few seconds, but then pulled away quickly, a stray look of longing lingering for a fleeting moment. "Stop being so emotional." She snapped, and for the first time, he didn't have to force himself to ignore her temper, he only smiled at it. She scowled and added, "I'm going hunting."

"I'll go with you."

She smirked again. "A little bi-polar with the decision making today, are we?"

He shrugged, smiling. "Well, you have been waiting on me all day, after all." He teased. She looked like she wanted to laugh, but it seemed she'd met her quota for human emotion for the day, because she resisted and shrugged as she walked out outside, shivering as her bare feet hit the porch. She flashed Leopard and paced a few paces forward, waiting for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**DAY 9 of 21**

Tossing the rag to the side, he stretched his arms back behind him and started to leave from behind the bar. It was a short shift tonight, and the guys were unhappy, thinking he was leaving early to see Anelise. And that's what he let them think. Better they think he was hanging out with the Regis than know that he was going on a Slayer hunt. They'd be more upset with the latter than they would the former. He hated the lies, but this was one aspect of his life he couldn't bring himself to talk about. Not even with his closest friends.

He took off his headset and set it in the office, nodding to Aimee, who was behind the desk. "Night Colt. Say hi for me." She said distractedly, assuming like everyone else he was going straight to Anelise. As strange as it felt, he sort of wished he was. He didn't really like his mate all that much, but she was easy to be around. She didn't like talking, so he got the silence he lacked at Peltier house. She didn't ask about his day, or ask awkward questions about random injuries he showed up with. She made herself dinner, left him some, and either watched television while barely acknowledging him or retreated to her loft upstairs to avoid being around him. It wasn't helping the mating situation, but it was nice in it's own way. He cracked his neck as he went up to the office used for flashing on the third floor. He shut the door behind him and grabbed his coat from the closet and flashed to Działoszyce, Świętokrzyskie, Poland, and pulled his coat tighter around him, scowling at the rain. He stepped into the foul weather, and made his way to the bar his tip had said the Slayer frequented. He'd been looking for this guy a few weeks now; a Panther that had destroyed part of his Patria when he'd thought they'd betrayed him, he'd slowly started a downward spiral and was at the point he'd pretty much kill anything that looked at his sideways, human and were alike. Colt shook his head. Poor guy. Lost his family and life all in one rash decision. But facts were facts, and the body count was rising, and it was up to him to stop this man from killing any more innocents. He entered the bar and nodded to the bartender, asking for a beer in his limited Polish. The man set the beer down on the counter

"American?" The bartender asked in a thick accent Colt recognized as Russian. It matched Anelise's, though she was more skilled at hiding it.

"Da. No ya govoryunemnogo Rossii." He said, telling the bartender that he spoke a little Russian. He'd learned the basics from Anelise in the time they'd spent together. The bartender smiled and rattled off a few things in Russian, and Colt responded the best he could. The guy nodded, pleased, and asked if there was anything Colt needed. Colt explained that he was looking for an old friend, a regular here, kind of an anti-social type guy. The bartender frowned and nodded.

"Da. I know a man like you are saying. I know not his name, but he is, how you say, angry. At everything. We have kicked him out many time, but he come back always."

"Do you know where I could find him?"

"He come in almost every night. You wait long enough, he will come." The bartender said, going back to work, obviously uncomfortable with the man in question. Colt took a drink and leaned his arms on the counter, preparing himself for the wait.

It took almost three hours for him to show up, and when he did, Colt was careful to not react. He watched the man walk in, and prepared to stand to block his exit at the door, but then, following him, were two other men. A Leopard and a Hawk, by the smell of it. Fuck. More Slayers. This just got harder. When the fuck did Slayers start traveling in packs? And a random pack, too. Each a different Patria, all traveling together. He wanted to groan, but couldn't risk attracting attention to himself. He had to decide what to do in the next few seconds. If they spoke to the bartender, he'd give away Colt's position. Colt got up from the bar and started to go out the door. He let his Sentinel markings show as he passed his target, baiting the Slayer. He heard fast footsteps behind him, and knew he had the man. He flashed to the alley next to the bar before the Slayer could get out the door, and watched the man look from side to side. He kicked the wall as he showed himself and leaned against it, attracting the man's attention, and once he had it, he moved further into the alley, baiting him further away from his makeshift pack. The man followed without hesitation, and rounded the corner at a run. Colt caught him in the face with a crowbar, dropping him to the ground. He screeched in outrage, and jumped back up, leaping up at Colt with a roar that turned feral as he changed forms and pounced on top of Colt. Colt used his powers to fling the dumpster at the Panther, pinning him against the wall, but before he could snap the collar on him, he was tackled from behind by two large, male bodies. He threw the two off him, and jumped to his feet, facing them while his target roared and clawed at the dumpster, moving it slowly but surely away from him. One of the men immediately flashed to his Leopard form, and Colt felt that familiar hesitation at the sight that was so familiar to Angel. But as the Leopard made a leap for his throat, his hesitation fled and Sentinel and survival instincts kicked in. He ducked under the leap, grabbing the crowbar from the ground and swinging it up in a wide arch, bringing it to slam into the cat's side. The cat snarled in frustration as it landed and spun around to face him again, and Colt was forced to choose if he wanted the Hawk that still held human form, or the Leopard baring it's teeth at him at his back. Not an easy choice, but teeth were more pressing an issue at the moment. So he reluctantly turned his back partially to the Hawk, and heard the screeching metal of the dumpster almost off the Panther. He groaned and manifested a long sword, trying to face them both at once, trying not to have to turn his back on either at a time. "My quarrel isn't with either of you." He tried reasoning with them.

"Not today, it isn't. But it will be. So we'll solve the problem now." The Hawk growled. The Leopard snarled an agreement and leapt again, and a split second later, the Hawk attacked as well, his own long sword flashing in the dim light.

Colt swung his sword to the Leopard, and ducked as the Hawk's came at him. He caught the Leopard in the shoulder, causing him to lash out as he took a momentary step back. In that moment, Colt swung his sword up toward the Hawk, the sound of metal on metal clanging in the muffled fog of Działoszyce's rain covered town. He felt teeth sink into his leg, and screamed out as he swung the sword down to whoever was on his leg, catching the Leopard in the face. A roar, and he flashed out, leaving the Hawk and the Panther. Colt turned on the Hawk, ready to fight, keeping his bad leg behind him, when with a final squeal of metal, the Panther was free and pounced on him, taking him to the ground. He yanked forward to sink his teeth into Colt's neck, and Colt flashed to the side, out of reach of the teeth, and jumped back up to his feet with a wince as he put weight on his bad leg, remanifesting his sword, and another in his other hand. The Hawk attacked the second he was out of reach of the Panther, creating another sword as well, and they fought sword to sword. Colt was winning; Hawks didn't typically like being human all that much, and were better trained to fight Hawk style, diving in and striking before their opponent even knew what hit them. They didn't do quite as well in hand to hand combat. But as the Panther regained his footing and jumped in as well, Colt realized it didn't matter if the Hawk could fight well or not. They still had him outnumbered. The Panther took a swipe at his side, ripping a gash in it as wide as his ribs. He refrained from crying out, and forced himself to stay upright, even as the Hawk brought the sword down to cut an equal slash in his shoulder, ripping through skin and muscle. Tiring of the injuries and being outnumbered, he dropped one sword, and ducked lower to flash behind the Hawk, landing still in a crouch, and rising to his full height, manifesting a collar and snapping it around the Hawk's neck before he could blink. That done, Colt raised a foot to slam it into the Hawk's back as the Panther jumped for him. Batting the Hawk away as he fell toward him, the Panther only had bloodthirsty eyes for Colt. His front paws hit Colt's shoulders, sending them both sprawling to the ground, and Colt felt his head crack against the concrete and tried to slide further beneath the Panther to avoid his teeth again. He really didn't want to use a fazor on the guy, but he needed him in human form to snap the collar on him. He stabbed upward with the one sword still in his hand, and though the Panther cried out with a furious snarl, he stayed Panther. Colt sighed, and in the span of a blink, demanifested the sword and manifested a fazor, and touched the big cat. It was on the lowest setting it could be while still taking effect, but the roar that turned to a human wail of pain and fear still got to Colt. Not that anyone would be able to tell as he unflinchingly snapped the collar on the man's neck and pulled out his cell phone to call the guards at the Arcadian prison to come get the men. He used his powers to bind the men, tying their hands and feet, and avoiding the curses and spitting as he did so, and went to lean against the wall, feeling himself starting to black out. He felt blood still running down his shoulder, soaking his shirt and favorite jacket, and blood flowing from his side, and when he looked down he winced, able to see the stark white of bone through the deep gash in his side. His right leg was mangled to the point of almost being unrecognizable, and he could barely put any weight on it, and his head felt fuzzy and unfocused, which probably meant a concussion from hitting the ground too hard. Fucking perfect.

The guards arrived, ignoring Colt as they collected the two men, and with their combined powers, cleaned the mangled alleyway while one disappeared around the corner to see if anyone had heard or questioned the sounds of the fight so she could mind-wipe them. The ones holding the Slayers vanished, and after a second, so did the cleaners. Colt suspected the mind wiper would follow as soon as she was done, and he slid down the wall, feeling consciousness coming and going. Sanctuary was his only real option; he needed medical attention, and soon, but the questions and accusatory glares he'd face almost made it not worth going back. He sighed, and closed his eyes to flash.

The flashing wiped the last of his remaining strength, and he fell, feeling the icy cold of snow seep into his bones. Gods-fucking-dammit. He'd flashed either someplace completely random or-

He forced his eyes open to see Anelise's house a few hundred yards away. Yup. Perfect. His mate's house. That was exactly where he needed to be while so injured he couldn't even walk. This was fucking awesome. He used the last bit of his powers to toss a rock at her door, hoping it's implore her to come out, and he vaguely realized the door was opening as he finally lost consciousness.

/

**Later of day 9 of 21:**

Anelise was pacing her living room idly, the television playing some random movie in the background that she was hardly paying attention to. She rolled her head, feeling the muscles in her neck stretch, and had the fleeting thought that she was hungry. She went to the kitchen, and pulled out some steaks. Enough for two. She always had to have enough for two nowadays, what with Colton and his man appetite. The man could put away twice as much as her and still want more, it was uncanny. But she felt less opposed than usual to the extra food she needed. She could feel herself softening toward him more and more ever since she'd had her showdown with her family. She'd realized, in the following few days after her attack, as she healed and fended off his eagerness to speed up her healing process, that she'd protected him out of both duty, and a strange fondness for him. She wasn't used to being fond of people, or having people invested in her well being. Aimee was the closest she'd ever had to a real friend, but she had her bar and her family and her mate to care for and worry about, and Anelise played like she was too busy to hang out consistently so Aimee didn't miss the love and affection her family could give her. The kind of affection Anelise would never be able to offer her. She was beyond fond of the Bearswan, but actual affection and kindness went beyond her ability to comprehend. She had been lucky, finding Aimee, who understood that Anelise's fondness was shown in smaller ways; having her favorite movies at the house, teaching her to run on ice and bound through snow, allowing her silence to be with her own thoughts without the pressing need to explain them. Aimee understood that Anelise didn't enjoy touching, but did allow it from the Bearswan. She understood that Anelise was mean and surly and very rarely in the best of moods, and yet it never deterred her from returning, as she knew that Anelise's temper would never truly turn on the Bearswan. She simply cared too much for the girl.

Colton, however, was an entirely different can of worms. The Bearswain was touchy and affectionate, and had seemed to become resigned to his fate of being her mate with a week, and was now giving off the impression he was only waiting for her to come around. He didn't want to be her mate, anymore than she wanted to be his, and it irked her that he'd accept it without much of a fight. Not that there really was anyone to fight; it wasn't like the fates were going to change their mind. But still; there should be some fight left in him. It wasn't like she made a real effort to befriend him; quite the opposite. She'd gone out of her way to show him that mean and surly was the only way she knew to be, even if Aims would say otherwise. But still, he made the effort to be around her, to talk with her and try to learn about her. That'd go over like a lead balloon. She could see it now;

'Tell me about your family.'

'Well, my family is a pack of bloodthirsty men, women, and children who- while we can't harness our magic very well- are extremely physical and prone to random bouts of violence. It's considered a good day in my village when a fight doesn't end in death.'

'Not bloodshed?'

'Oh, no, bloodshed is a given, on any given hour. You see, we're quite temperamental, and were I to let them loose, my entire pack would probably be deemed Slayer and slaughtered as a whole.'

'But you're Arcadian.'

'Well, yes. Which means we're human. Which means we really don't like each other all that much. Which means we try to get rid of each other and any other competitor on a daily basis. But that's not really a big deal. It's my cousin Nera, you see, that's the real problem. My pack would listen to me without question if my charming, charismatic former sister-in-law to my deceased brother didn't have every member of my pack eating out of the palm of her hand and dead set on replacing me.'

'What happened to your brother?'

'Oh, that. I suspect she killed him, assuming she'd take Regency. But that's a story for another day.'

Oh, yeah. That was a conversation she was just dying to have. Not. She snarled to herself, slamming the pan down on the stove, and lighting the flame. She forced herself back to tranquility as she cooked, and had almost achieved it when she felt the fissure that let her know someone had just flashed in. Odd, if it were Colton, that he'd flash to the yard and not into the house.

She turned off the stove and went to the door, pausing with her hand on the doorknob as a small clink sounded on her door. She turned the handle and stepped outside, feeling the cold of her porch seep in through her socked feet and up her jean-clad legs. She spotted someone in a heap on the far side of her yard, and swore when she recognized Colton. Forgoing a jacket or shoes, she ran out to him, bending down to his side and rolling him over. She winced at the large gash in his side that was deep enough to bare bone, and inspected him quickly, cataloging his various injuries, including a nasty cut on his shoulder down to his breastbone, and his right leg, which was more torn ligaments and blood than actual skin, and carefully lifted him into her arms, using her powers to help her carry him, and took him inside.

She used her powers to sweep everything off the large dining table she never used but thought was pretty, and laid him across it. She went to fetch the medical kit, and got a bowl of warm water and a few torn cloths. She turned the heat up as she passed the thermostat, and used her powers to strip him of what was left of his clothing, including his jacket, which she laid across a chair. She dipped a cloth in the water, and started washing away the blood that covered most of him at this point, having bleed down his right side from the shoulder gash, and his left from the gouge in his left. His leg was difficult, as there were few spot around his shin that weren't cut through the skin, and she winced on his behalf as she carefully washed his leg. She kept trading out the rags for cleaner ones as she worked. Once he was cleaned of the blood, she could better see the wounds, and she took out the stitching kit and began closing the wound on his shoulder. Lucky bastard, a few inches further to his left and his heart would have probably been skewered. It'd be a shame to lose such a good heart, she thought as she finished up his shoulder with neat, precise stitches.

She laid gauze over his leg wound, not wanting it to be exposed for too long, and went to the wound on his side, cleaning it and covering it so it could heal in peace, and did the same to his battered leg, cleaning the wound, setting the fracture, wrapping and splinting his leg. She manifested a pair of shorts on him and went back to his head, and carefully turned his head so she could see the back of it, where a patch of dark hair was matted down with blood. She cleaned the small wound and lifted him back up to take him to his room to lay him down across the bed. She closed the door partway and left the light off, but made sure the lights in the main area were on so he knew she was there if he needed anything.

She went back to his jacket, and laid it across the table too. He was fond of this one, she knew, since he almost never took it off if he could help it, and it'd be a pity to have to get rid of it since it was covered in blood. She grabbed a new cloth and dipped it in the water, diligently patting at the leather until the blood started to come out. It took a while, but eventually the jacket was clean and free of blood, and she was able to pack up the med kit and toss the bloodied rags. She put the med kit back under the sink in the kitchen, and glanced at the food she'd made for him with a scowl. What a waste. She washed her hands and wrapped it to put it back in the fridge, taking her own and a soda. Cold steak was better than wasted steak. She went to the couch to watch the movie she'd been ignoring previously, her ears cocked for any sounds of Colton moving around.

She'd finished the movie and cleaned her dishes by the time she heard a small sound, followed by a louder, stumbling sound. She was instantly up and going to Colton's room, but then he was there, in the hallway, braced against the wall, trying to make his uneasy way out to the main area, and she felt her ice start to thaw a bit. She immediately ducked under his other arm, giving him something to lean on but not speaking, just watching him, waiting to see what he'd say. He leaned heavily on her letting his head droop and touch hers.

"Can't... alone." He mumbled almost incoherently, and she nodded quickly. She should've guessed he wouldn't want to be alone, not when he'd be surrounded and cosseted at Peltier House. It was what he was used to, and she should've have been able to guess that being alone would make him uncomfortable. She nodded. "Alright. Come with me. You can sleep on the couch, where I am." She said, flicking off the lights with her power as they made their slow way to the couch. The big windows were still open, but night had fallen on the tundra, and it was still dark in the room, save the bluish glow of the television. She helped him to the couch and didn't protest when he laid his head in her lap and closed his eyes. She just pulled a blanket over him with her powers and tried to turn her focus back to the television. He shifted and nuzzled her leg where his face lay, and she looked down at him, willing herself not to soften toward him anymore. But as though on it's own volition, her hand reached out and stroked his hair, over and over, soothing both him and her as she continued the motion even as she did manage to turn her attention back to the movie.


	6. Chapter 6

**Night of day 9/ Morning of day 10: **

He eventually woke up, and looked around, somewhat confused at his surroundings until he remembered that he'd gone to Anelise's house instead of Peltier House. The distance was probably too much for him, and he'd stopped at the closet point he knew. He felt warmth around him, and soft breathing stirring his hair, and he realized he was in a woman's lap. Knowing it was the only option, but still wanting to check just to make sure, he glanced up. Yup. It was definitely Anelise's lap he was lying in. She was lying against the back of the couch, sleeping, curled protectively around Colt. This was odd. And brought him to the harder question. Lay still, awkward but saved from her sure-to-be-surliness that he caught her in such a caring position, or try to slip out of her lap unnoticed, undoubtedly waking her up and risking her irritation.

Decisions, decisions. The smarter option was to stay still, try to fall asleep again or pretend to sleep, but his stomach was growling, so he would try to move.

He attempted to slide quietly out from her lap, but his movement caused her to shift positions and she almost fell to the couch. He caught her before she actually fell, wincing as he pulled at his shoulder, and she shifted, but stayed asleep. He gently laid her down, covering her with the blanket that had been on him, and carefully made his way to the kitchen to find something to eat.

He stopped by the mirror by the kitchen, and eyed his injuries. He was clean and patched up, and he shot a curious look to Anelise, who he couldn't see past the back of the couch. He looked down at his side and his leg, both of which were cleanly wrapped and he had a small splint on his leg. Everything hurt like hell, but not nearly so bad as he suspected he'd feel if she hadn't helped him. He limped into the kitchen and opened the fridge, grinning gratefully as he spotted the steaks. He took them out and tossed them on the skillet that was still on the stove and turned the flame on, warming them up. He grabbed a water from the fridge, and opened the medicine cabinet to grabbed some painkillers, downing a couple and tossing his steaks onto a plate. He turned off the stove and went to eat at the dining table, which was empty, and all of her things that littered the table mostly used for storage were on the ground, scattered randomly. He shot another glance at the couch, smiling to himself. Well, there was a surprise. He wouldn't have guessed before today that she cared enough to discount her own belongings to care for him. That, too, was odd. Pleasant. But definitely odd. He ate in peace, focused only on his food, and finished quickly, downing the water as well. He collected his dishes and rose to wash them, but as he got up he noticed his jacket on the chair he'd been using. He picked it up, prepared to toss the poor thing, but as he inspected it, he couldn't find any he had bled on it, that much he was completely certain of. She couldn't have... and yet, what other explanation was there? He couldn't bring it up, she'd probably deny it. He didn't know how to repay her odd and random kindness. He carried his dishes to the kitchen, wondering what had possessed her to be so nice to him. He had vague recollections of stumbling out of the bedroom he stayed in, and her catching him in the hall, gently leading him to the couch, letting him lean the majority of his weight on her without a single complaint. He went back to the dining area, and started gathering her things from the ground and setting them back on the table neatly. It wasn't much, but it was something. He went back to the television, looking through the DVD's, shooting glances at Anelise.

She was quite lovely when she wasn't snarling or scowling. So, basically when she was sleeping. She was quite lovely when she was sleeping. he chuckled to himself, finding a movie he liked, Gone in 60 Seconds, and replaced the current movie with that one, hitting play and returning to the couch. He sat next to Anelise, and reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. She shifted a bit and made a soft sound, but didn't wake or move away, and he left his hand there while he watched the movie. He didn't feel her wake, but then her voice, softer than normal, tinged with sleep, spoke. "I've always liked Angelina Jolie in this movie."

He looked down, surprised, then smiled. "She's pretty badass." He agreed, wondering what she'd do when she noticed his hand was still on her, wondering if she'd noticed already.

She must not have, because she suddenly flushed red and moved to put distance between the two of them, unable to meet his eyes. He didn't press her by moving closer, but he did tilt his head, trying to meet her eyes. "Thank you, for helping me."

She tossed her hair, feigning indifference, but it didn't bother him like it normally did. "Well, what was I supposed to do, let you lie there and bleed all over my yard?"

"No, but you could've taken me someone else, instead of helping me yourself." She was starting to look uncomfortable, but he couldn't help himself. "And my jacket?" Her flush deepened, but her voice was still cold when she answered.

"Also couldn't have it dripping blood all over my dining room."

"Ahh, of course." He said, nodding like that made perfect sense, even though they both knew it wasn't the reason. "Well, thank you anyway."

She watched him closely, a question in her eyes, and he winced bracing himself for the questions to start. But she didn't speak, just turned her clear eyes back to the television, her face still flushed red.


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 11 of 21:**

They ran together, leisurely, without rush, down the mountain and onto to ice. Anelise let her furry paws slide, spinning her in a circle until she was facing behind her, stifling laughter as she watched Colton hesitantly make his way onto the ice.

~The ice has been solid for decades now. It's not going to crack under you.~ She linked to him, trying to keep her amusement out of the tone of her thoughts.

~I know that.~ He snapped, making no move to hurry his process up. She huffed a sigh and flopped on the ice to wait for him as hard and dramatically as she could, just to prove a point. He cautiously made his way over to her, and once he was finally near, she rose, shaking her head. To anyone else, it look like she was irritated with him, but really, she was more amused than anything. To watch such a tough, capable Sentinel flounder on something as simple as ice made her want to laugh, as it had since they'd started their excursions. She felt more at ease out on the ice. There was nothing to close in on her, nowhere for anyone to hide, nothing that could surprise her out on the flat, barren tundra. Exactly the way she preferred it. Colton may not understand or care, but he did notice that she was more easygoing- using the term loosely- out in the open, and so he'd suggested he start running with her occasionally. She strayed near to him without realizing it, wondering if his injuries were acting up. It'd only been a few days, and while he seemed to be almost back to normal, she still fretted, just as she did over Aimee when the Bearswan was injured.

They were halfway across the tundra, two hour later, when she got a strange feeling. Intuition, as men brushed off women's concerns, but she'd learned to trust her instincts out here. If they were telling her something was off, something was probably off. She suddenly stopped, and retreated to human form, where she had a slightly better grasp on her magic. Colton immediately stopped with her, and she was-privately- impressed he was so attuned to her movements. He flashed human with her, and were she not so distracted, she'd laugh at his heavy fur lined coat and equally heavy boots compared to her simple trench coat and plain, flat black boots over jeans. But she was distracted, pacing across the ice. The animal she kept tightly controlled in her was bristling, and it was making her uncomfortable, as she paced from side to side nervously.

Colton approached her, looking around, on guard in response to her nerves. "What is it?" He asked, his eyes narrowed. She shook her head, partially because she didn't know, and partially out of irritation that she didn't know. "I can't... put a finger on it, exactly..." And then she saw it. A tiny, brightly colored dot that was out of place on a nearby mountain dripping with stark white snow. It was there, then it was gone. Someone was flashing. With their proximity to the north pole, the magnetic force played havoc on anyone's powers unless they were supremely powerful and adept at magic. One had to flash only to points they could clearly see, any further, and they risked causing trouble with their landing. She studied the land in front of them, looking for the next flashing point, taking a concerned step forward, and Colton mirrored her movement, looking for whatever she was staring at. "Anelise talk to me." He said, his eyes on the empty tundra.

"Someone's coming." She said. There it was again. A bright dot, there for a moment, then gone again. "There." She muttered, and when Colton looked again, he swore. "We should go." He said quietly.

"Go where? Back to my home? I'm not leading whoever it is back there. I stay here." She snapped, and he grabbed her arm. "I'm not risking you fighting out here." He growled, and she yanked her arm away, dead set on finding the flasher. He or she was getting closer, until he was close enough to make out a form. Leopard. Colt swore again, and grabbed her arm, yanking her back toward the way the came from. "We have to go."

"I'm not going." She tried to pull her arm from his grip, but he just gave her a forceful tug and brought her flush against him. "You're not fighting a Slayer. I'm not risking you getting hurt because some asshole has a grudge with me, do you understand?" He scowled, and she snarled back at him but didn't resist as he continued to tug her toward the forest in the distance. "Should we flash or will he not be able to see us running as humans?" He asked.

She blinked, changing the color of his coat from dark brown to a more bay-ish color, to match her own light clothing. "Now he won't, unless he gets close enough." She said, jogging alongside him as they sped up. "If we make it to the trees we can lose him. He won't be able to deal with tracking in the snow." She said, breaking into a run. Colton sped up as well, glancing at her. "I've always been able to find you." He pointed out.

"Yeah, well, not everyone's as powerful as you are, thank the gods." She snapped. They could see the trees in the distance but then a fissure ripped through the air, and they felt the Slayer behind them. Colton shoved Anelise out of the way as he felt large paws hit his back and send him crashing to the ground. A shriek of fury from the big cat preceded him jumping off Colt, and he looked up to see Anelise brandishing a large piece of a tree trunk threateningly at the cat, who was rubbing at his jaws with a large paw a couple yards away. She had placed herself in front of Colt, and he jumped up to stand alongside her, focusing his power in case the cat made any sudden moves. The cat regained himself and seemed to realize he was outnumbered, and paced back and forth, eyeing them dangerously. He stayed like that for a good few minutes, until Anelise had that bad creeping feeling again. She scanned the scenery again, and cursed aloud as she recognized the multiple figures flashing closer and closer. Nera and some of her followers, undoubtedly tracking the Slayer on their lands. Anelise didn't allow them to actively go looking for Slayers, but she should've been quicker to realize they'd be tracking one that was stupid enough to start flashing all over their territory. They reached the point behind the Slayer, who darted to the side, keeping both the newcomers and Colt and Anelise within his view. Anelise and Nera sneered at each other, each daring the other to move, while Colt and the Slayer kept careful eyes on each other, and the Snow Leopards Nera had brought hovered menacingly in the background.

"So glad we finally get to meet your mate, Anelise." Nera spoke first. Anelise resisted the urge to leap at her, hearing the threat in her words, and kept her cool. "Must've slipped my mind to introduce you sooner." She said icily in response.

Nera turned her malicious gaze to Colt, who glanced at Anelise briefly before watching Nera with cautious eyes. "It's a shame we have to meet under such circumstances, what with you all having to die and all. A pity, really." She crowed, taking a step closer. Anelise matched her step, putting herself a step in front of Colt, blocking Nera's access to him. Colt turned his full attention back to the Slayer, who dismissed the exchange disinterestedly, his rage filled eyes on Colt. Tension rippled in the air, so thick it was choking them, but still no one moved. Then, Nera gave some unseen signal, and two of the three Leopards she'd brought with her leapt at the Slayer, while Nera and the third leapt at Anelise. "Get the Slayer!" Anelise shrieked, knowing Colton's instincts would tear him to both get the Slayer and save her at once. She threw the tree branch at the random Leopard woman, and leapt at Nera, meeting her partway in her leap and backtracking her to land on her back on the ice, with Anelise on top of her. Nera was kicking and screaming and Anelise felt the other woman worrying her back, until with a screech she was ripped off and thrown into a tree in the near distance. Shaking her head at Colton's overprotectiveness and the extent of his powers, she lifted Nera by her collar and slammed her head back into the ground, causing her to shriek in fury. Anelise got up, lifting Nera with her, and threw her further onto the ice, and darted back to Colton, tearing a woman from his back, tossing her away, and spinning to press her back against Colt's. "I'm at your back!" She called out, in case he thought she was an attacker. He laughed out loud and pressed against her for a brief second before refocusing on the fight at his front. Two of the women had already flashed out, tired of the fight and wary about their chances of winning against their furious Regis and her abnormally powerful Sentinel mate. Which left Nera and her one follower at Anelise's front, and the Slayer at Colton's. She linked to Colton, passing a plan by him, and he agreed, counting down.

~Three,~

~Two,~ She matched him, grinning and preparing.

~One!~ He ducked and she rolled, back on back, to his other side, and he left loose a blast of power on the Snow Leopards, who- used to physical violence and not well trained in the art of magic- went flying backwards, landing in an undignified, injured heap a couple hundred yards away. In the same moment, Anelise shifted forms and leapt at the Slayer's throat, and he stumbled back, still braced for a magical attack and using all his energy to focus on blocking it, leaving him unprepared for the ferocity of a Snow Leopard's teeth at his neck. She closed her jaws on his throat and swung her massive jaws and tossing him into the tree next to them, knocking him out so Colt could manifest a collar and snap it on him. Anelise shifted back human, trying to get the taste of blood out of her mouth, grabbed the second collar Colt tossed her, and flashed to her cousin's side while Colt got out his cell phone to call the Arcadian Prison guards. She grabbed Nera by the hair and clicked her teeth at the man left, who immediately flashed out, leaving Nera alone as Anelise snapped the collar on her and dropped her cousin back on the ice. "The guards are coming. Unless you wanna go with the Slayer, I suggest you run." She growled, going back to Colton's side.

She was almost to him when he clicked his phone shut and turned to see her. He closed the distance between them and, his hands around her waist, lifted her into the air joyfully. "You were brilliant!" He crowed, setting her down and kissing her forehead. She flushed red, but for once didn't pull away. She ignored the guards when they arrived as completely as they ignored her and Colton, and ducked her head, embarrassed. "Uhm... thanks, I guess. You did most of the work." She said, still impressed with the extent of his powers. He grinned widely and shook his head as the Arcadian guards vanished with the unconscious Slayer. "No, you were incredible." He insisted, his hands cupping her face, his forehead touching hers. She felt her breath stall for a moment, but didn't step away as he pressed his lips to hers. After a moment, though, she did step back, hooking a strand a hair behind her ear, ducking her head to let it fall again to obscure her face from view. "We should- we should go back. "She said, tripping over the words. He was still grinning, and tilted her face back up to his, kissing her again and flashing them both back to the house.

* * *

**Still day 11 of 21:**

She immediately put distance between them, retreating to the kitchen to find them something to eat, and his grin- despite himself- widened. She didn't run to her loft, she didn't leave entirely. It was something. he found himself actually happy that she was staying where he could see her, where he could talk to her, start to thaw the ice-queen that was Anelise. He went to sprawl on the couch, flicking on one of her favorite movies. He wanted to follow her to the kitchen, help her with the food, but he was wary of invading her space so casually. He had to let it happen the way she needed it to. So he'd give her space, let her come back to him.

And she did. She made them dinner and brought it to the couch, hesitantly handing him his plate. He took it with a smile, and nodded to the space next to him.

Anelise didn't know what was going on. She was all but completely out of control as she slowly sat next to him. Her dislike of living company was telling her to get the fuck out of there, but there was a small part of her that wanted to stay, a small, easily ignored- or had been, anyway- part of her that felt like she belonged to something when she was with Colton, and she found herself wanting to prolong that feeling. She was still frowning as she sat, but she didn't mean it as much as she normally did. They ate in silence, watching a movie, and she felt him inching closer to her, and while she felt herself start to bristle, she didn't push him away or move away. She let him inch his way casually closer to her, until she felt his arm spread across the back of the couch, almost but not quite touching her shoulder, an almost embrace. She stiffened, but still didn't move, and she heard him chuckle. "What?" She snapped, glaring at him. He was laughing as he answered. "It's like dealing with a wildcat, trying to get close to you. Inch my way closer, hope you're not just luring me close enough to bite, never move too fast or talk too loud." He was laughing, and though her hackles raised a bit at the implication that she was acting feral, she didn't feel any real irritation rise, and she shot him a small, almost confused smile, like someone who wants to get the joke, but isn't sure they actually understand it.

Colt felt himself softening even further toward the prickly Regis. She was trying so hard to not be irritable, to understand the point of playing around, but she just couldn't quite grasp it. He leaned in closer, his arm not touching her, but his face was only inches from hers. "Are you just luring me in, Ana?" He asked softly. She was blushing madly, but she wasn't moving away, her clear grey eyes unsure and nervous. "Are you going to let me in, or lash out at the last second?"

She swallowed before answering, and it was obvious she was nervous, but he couldn't tell if it good nervous, or a bad nervous. She hadn't struck out at him yet, so his gut said it was a good nervous. "I can't guarantee one over the other." She said quietly, blinking rapidly with thoughts she wouldn't share.

Anelise was nervous. Not just nervous: petrified, of both having someone so close- especially a tall, masculine, ridiculously powerful Sentinel male- and by the desire to have him closer still. She wasn't used to feeling this way, no one had ever been so intent on making her blood race, but he was leaning closer, and she wasn't moving away, she was trying to get up the courage to kiss him, or tell him to kiss her, but she couldn't force the words out. Her pride and ingrained aversion to having people close to her kept her from speaking the thoughts on her mind. He leaned in closer, and kissed her cheek, his lips lingering against her skin. Her skin flushed with heat, her pulse spiking so high she was sure he could feel it. She couldn't move as his lips brushed her skin, but then they were gone, and she regained brief control of herself.

She flashed away from him, landing by the door, dressed for winter in the tundra. "I-I need to go for run- I- a walk- something-" She rambled, yanking open the door and retreating into the cold. With the blast of arctic air that hit her square in the face, she calmed and remembered her reasons for not succumbing to base urges with Colton. There were too many wild factors, too many reasons why he shouldn't be involved with her, and her with him. She was barely to the edge of the porch when Colton appeared in front of her. "No, not this time." He growled, blocking her access to the openness of the mountain.

"Move, Colton." She snapped, and went to move around him, but he matched her step, and she found herself trapped between the pillar on her porch and Colton.

"No." He said, and she went to push past him, but his hands found her arms and held her in place, her back against the wall. He wasn't forceful enough to truly keep her there, his hands weren't tight enough to make her feel trapped, but she got the point he was trying to make. That they were going to discuss this, and they were going to do it NOW. She clenched her jaw, torn between anger at his manhandling her, and the sudden rush of lust at the same motion. They stared at each other for a few long, silent, smoldering seconds. He was the first to speak. "Ten days, Ana. A week and a half we have to decide what we're going to do. You can't ignore this forever. You can't keep running."

"I can do as I please. Or are you going to force me, Colton?" She snapped, knowing he wouldn't, but also knowing it'd make him back down. She needed space from him, and lashing out at him was he only way to accomplish that.

He blinked like she'd struck him, but he didn't move, and the shock quickly left his eyes. "You know I wouldn't. That's a low blow, and you know it."

"Step away from me, Colton."

He stayed in place a moment longer, but did eventually take a step back, watching her with unreadable eyes. She stayed pressed against the wall, letting the freeze of ice on the pillar cool her back through her coat, but before she could say anything into the heavy silence, he spoke. "I'll be inside if you need me for anything." He said, his voice unfairly gentle after what she'd said to him, and with one last, lingering look, he went back into the house, leaving her guilty and confused and growing slowly colder out on her porch.

She sank to the ground, her back sliding along the sheen of ice, until she was sitting on the porch, not noticing the steady temperature drop. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, setting her chin on the tops of her knees. She didn't feel like running anymore, but she couldn't bring herself to go back inside. So she stayed, stuck in limbo, for the next half hour, until the doorknob turned and Colton took a step outside. He silently made his way to where she sat, and plopped down next to her, his knees up, his forearms resting on them.

"I shouldn't have pushed you like that." He said quietly.

"I understand your frustration." She replied primly.

He shot her a wry smile. "I don't think you do. Not really, anyway." He said, rising and offering her a hand. She eyed it for a moment, and his smile fell a fraction. "It's just a hand, Ana."

Embarrassed that she'd hesitated, guilty that she'd insulted him, she quickly accepted his hand and let him pull her up. She felt herself start to thaw as soon as her hand was enwrapped in his, the warmth of him shooting through her like a long drink of a hot beverage, warming her from the inside out. He led her inside, and the warmth intensified. He liked the house warm, and while she didn't always enjoy it, she stayed quiet. He was kind enough to stay with her rather than ask her to go to New Orleans; she tried to let him do as he pleased, even if she had to die of heat exhaust along the way. He made his way over to the couch, his hand still loosely wrapped around hers, and only let go as they sat. She sat on the edge of the couch stiffly, tense and ready to bolt. He moved a bit closer to her, but tried not to push her too much. "Don't run, Ana. I'm asking you, please, for me, don't run."

She didn't relax, but she didn't leave, either. Her hands twisted in her lap, and one of his hands fell lightly atop hers, and her hands fisted, pulling away from his. He didn't move his hand, and there was a small part of her that enjoyed the warmth of another person, a small part that wanted to curl into his side and rub against him, soaking up that warmth. But that was just her feral side, she berated herself. Better to keep herself under control than give in to primal urges.

His hand still on hers, he laid back against the couch. "Well, I think I'll count that as a success, what do you think?" He teased, and she frowned at him, but there was no real disapproval behind it. "Count what a success?" She asked.

"My request. You didn't run, so technically I think I can call it a success."

She rolled her eyes, but her tense posture relaxed, and she let herself rest against the couch next to him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Day 14 of 21:**

Anelise stayed perched on the counter for a few minutes after Colton left for his shift at the bar. She was too used to him being here. His scent was on everything, save her bedroom of his scent was in her rooms, her living areas, her kitchen, in her territory. He was everywhere.

And she was finding that she minded less and less everyday. It had been two weeks since they'd been mated, and she was already used to him coming and going as he pleased, watching tv with her during the daylight hours, going on runs with her. If she didn't know better, she would think she was starting to like him.

She slid off the counter, refusing to think about it, and walked outside, intending to go for a walk. She'd promised Colton that she'd wait for him to go hunting, but she couldn't stay cooped up. She changed forms and ran down the mountain, instinctively following a trail she and Colton frequented, letting her mind go blank as she neared the caves situated at the base of the mountain. She shifted as she reached the bottom, and manifested clothes as she leaned against the wall.

She cocked her head as she heard a scuffle nearby. She pushed off the wall, hearing men's voices around the corner, and sucked in a sharp gasp at the sight of four Katagaria Slayers. True Slayers, the kind that even Colton, for all his sympathy, would slay on the spot without hesitation. She, however, was outnumbered and lack the sheer power Colton commanded. Suddenly, one cocked his head in her direction, and even though she ducked around the corner, she knew the flash of dark hair would give her away. A dark chuckle sounded, and she gave up on stealth, and bolted, hoping to get within view of the top of the mountain to flash out.

But they were too fast. They rounded the corner, and the one who'd scented her flashed in front of her, cutting off her escape, eyeing her like a steak with an evil, feral gleam in his eyes. She was about to flash out, but the others were faster still. Another snapped a thin metriazo collar around her neck, stilling what little powers she controlled up here, before she even had a chance to blink. She darted a look around, refusing to give in to her rising fear, and tried to think logically. There were indeed four of them, three wolves and a dragos. One of the wolves who wasn't the leader in front of her grabbed her around her waist and grabbed a fistful of hair, yanking her head back, ignoring her as she swiped at him, and took a long whiff of her hair. Then he grinned, and her blood ran cold.

"We found something better." He growled low, and the leader wolf and the others cackled, and she bristled, wondering what they were talking about. This was **her** fucking mountain; who else-

It hit her like a ton of snow, and froze her blood further. Colton. Of course they'd be looking for the Slayer hunter. And what better prize other then him could they have but his marked mate? She started to panic as the horror stories her mother told her as a child ran through her mind, all about what Katagaria did to the mates of their flight instinct kicked in and she flailed suddenly, and the abrupt movement was enough to startle the wolf holding her into loosening his grip on her, allowing her enough freedom of movement to let her slam her head back into his nose, hearing the satisfying crunch of bones. But it wasn't enough, she was too outnumbered. The leader and second wolf rushed her, throwing her against the ice wall she'd lounged against only a few minutes ago. Her back hit the wall with a slam, and she kept fighting, but her retaliation only seemed to amuse them. The Dragos stood stoically off to one side, seemingly uninterested in the unfolding events, while the wolf she'd assaulted and the second held her arms against the ice wall, pinning her, and the leader Lykos grinned ferally as he flashed her clothes off. He had a good grip on his powers up near the poles, which was frightening in and of itself. She shrieked in rage and fought harder, feeling the ice against her bare skin, the sensation keeping her from drowning in terror. She refused to call for Colton. He would undoubtedly come, but all that would do would be to put him in harm's way. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction, and she wouldn't make taking what they were easy by any means.

The leader stalked forward, paying no mind to her shrieking, and leaned in close to her ear, hooking a strand of hair behind it as he whispered,

"You be sure to tell Colt we say hi." He laughed as he skimmed his hand down her neck, over her breast, across her stomach, to touch her where few men had gotten away with touching her with all their appendages in tact. His fingers toyed with the soft folds of her lower lips, and she saw red and responded with a cry of outrage and kicked a foot out, making contact with his shin at the same time she threw a headbutt and smashed her his nose as well. He snarled furiously, holding his bloodied nose, and backhanded her across her face, splitting open her lip. She tasted the metallic tang of blood and snapped her teeth back at him, snarling back with everything she had.

"You stupid bitch. You'll pay for that one." He threatened, ripping her away from the wall and throwing her against a boulder, his pants gone and his erection pressing against her as he came up behind her. "Hold her arms." He snapped at the other two, and they were right there, holding her arms down. The leader spat out blood and advanced, ignoring her screams, which were getting less rage-filled, and more frightened as every second passed, until finally, tears started falling and she gave in, and screamed for Colton, half praying he'd come, half hoping he'd stay away.

* * *

Colt threw a rag into the sink and left the bar area to jog upstairs to flash back to Anelise's. He'd forgotten he owed Serre his CD back, and he'd left it at Anelise's. Besides, he had a bad feeling and he wanted to see her. So he'd go back, say hi, grab the CD, and come back. No one would be the wiser. he went to the office and flashed to Baikal.

It was silent, which was pretty much the norm. She was silent and solitary by nature, much like the icy tundra she called home. She wasn't here, he could tell, and he had a few minutes to spare, so he went outside to flash to bear form, hoping to hear her coming home. He heard a soft sound, and he padded to the edge of the mountain, a couple hundred yards away from the border of her fence, to hear better. He figured he'd hear the faint echo of a fight, thinking she'd gone hunting without him after all. He hated when she did that. But he didn't hear what he was expecting. A woman's voice, loud enough to have struck a faint echo against the ice. The sound of men cheering, also louder than should be. Anelise was the only woman within a good 300 miles in any direction, and there should be men, period. Something was wrong after all. He focused his powers on her and flashed near to her, not knowing exactly what to expect, but bracing for the worst; a fight against some of her Arcadian leopards, maybe.

His eyes widened at the sight of the Slayers- a sneering Dragos and two Lykos cheering- then narrowed with murderous, bloody-rage-filled intent on the wolf that had, pinned beneath him a naked, fighting, screaming woman. A voice screaming obscenities that he recognized immediately. Throwing a hand out, harnessing every ounce of power he had, he slammed the three watching into a nearby wall and tore the Wolf off his Mate and dragged the creature to him until the bastard was close enough for Colt's hand to wrap around his throat, squeezing the life out of him slowly, enjoying the look of terror that washed over his damnable features as he realized who had found him. Colt wanted to be able to say something, wanted to kill him, wanted to hear his dying screams. He wanted it all with a ferocity that frightened him in his soul. Three jagged pieces of ice sprang out from the wall, skewering two of the wolves immediately, but the Dragos countered Colt's power and flashed himself and the leader Lykos out before Colt could finish the job, leaving him grasping air, and Anelise fallen in the snow, surprised to find herself neither under assault nor dead.

He didn't waste another second; he flashed to Anelise's side in a blink, bending down to her, his eyes wide and horrified, his lips moving but no sound coming from them. He wanted to touch her, wanted to pull her into his arms and insure she was uninjured, but he didn't know how she'd respond, and he didn't want to damage her further. "Ana-" He managed haltingly, making the collar drop from her throat as she stirred.

She seemed to suddenly realize she was free, and leapt up, away from him, watching him with broken, tear-filled eyes that shattered his heart and seemed to accuse him and beg for help all at once. He reached for her, but with a frightened mew, she vanished.

* * *

She reappeared on the top of the northmost side of the mountain, listening to the wail of the North wind all around her. She took a long, shaky breath, then collapsed with an answering wail of her own, covering her face with her hands, feeling the cold bite into her knees, making her manifest clothing on herself and give in to the sobs that wracked her.

Then she scented Colton again. Of course he'd be able to find her, even here, where the magnetic poles play havoc with one's powers. His sort of skill and ability came along once in a blue moon, and finding a woman with his scent and mating mark was most likely cake for him. He was kneeling beside her, his hands were tugging hers gently away from her face, his eyes trying to look into hers.

She wanted to ream him out. Wanted to shriek at him for the indignity and assault she'd suffered. But his hands, on hers, were shaking. His eyes glowed with rage and sorrow and more rage, the kind of raw fury she didn't often see, even among her own violent pack. She cold only watch him, feeling his shaking hands, and she collapsed again, burying her face in his chest, sobbing brokenly as he arms wrapped around her, keeping the wind and her fears at bay for the moment, at least.

* * *

He held her tightly against his chest, needing to know she was alive and uninjured. He hated himself for this. Loathed that it was because of him, his strict, fierce, bitchy mate was sobbing, broken and violated, in his arms. He was amazed she even let him near her; she had to know this was his fault. But she let him comfort her and hold her regardless. He pressed his cheek to her head, one arm wrapped securely around her waist, his other hand stroking her hair. "Let's go home, Ana." He murmured softly, scooping her carefully into his arms and flashing them back home. He carried her to the couch and sat, her in his lap. She was still crying, but her sobs had subsided into silent tears trailing down her used his powers to cover them in a blanket, and continued to hold her, continued to stroke her hair. He felt the cold wetness of her soaked clothing seeping into his jeans, and whispered softly to her. "Ana, honey, I'm going to change out your clothes. It's just me." He said softly, changing her into a pair of yoga pants like the ones he'd seen her wearing around the house, and a soft sweater, giving her socks to cover her feet and a scarf to hide her face. All he wanted was to hold onto her with as little clothing as possible, wanted to warm her frostbitten skin with his, but he knew that would do more harm than good in her current state. She wasn't human, and wouldn't get sick from the cold, but lying naked in the snow, pressed against ice, it could hurt her, even as it wouldn't kill her. It was a frightening reminder, though not the first, of how finite she was.

But to his surprised delight, she yanked the scarf away and buried her face against the curve of his neck where it met his shoulder, pressing her tearstained cheeks against his warm skin, warmer with the fury still running through his veins, boiling his blood. He'd slaughter those two that got away. As soon as he was content Ana was alright, he'd call Aimee, leave her to watch Ana, and he'd hunt those fuckers down and dismember them, piece by piece.

They stayed like that for most of the night, the tv playing idly in the background, him refusing to ease his grip on the woman in his arms. Finally, she muttered something against his skin, and he pulled away a fraction. "What was that, honey?" He asked, the endearment slipping easily off his tongue.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I tried not to call you. I didn't want them to find you, I panicked, I wasn't-" she tripped on her words as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, "I just wasn't strong enough-" He saw red and cut her off, calming himself when she quailed back from his rage. "Enough." He got control of himself, and repeated softer, "You have nothing to apologize for, Ana. You did nothing wrong." He assured her, cupping her face in his hands. "And I want you to always call me when you're in trouble. Don't worry about me; I can handle it. What I can't handle is another scene like that one. I'm going to hunt those fuckers down and make sure you never have to worry about them again, but I can't go through that again, not knowing I caused it."

She was shaking her head, trying to avoid his eyes. "I knew who and what you were getting into this. I should have been more alert, more on guard, I-"

"No." He snapped, interrupting her, tilting her face to force her to look at him. "Don't you **ever** write off what those monsters did as your fault, do you understand me?"

She nodded, and he leaned in to press his lips against hers, then peppered kisses all over her face. "I can protect you, Ana. I swear to you I'll do better." He murmured.

She curled against his chest, looking to him for comfort, for attention and affection for the first time, probably, in her life. "I don't need protection, but I will take you." She said softly, tucking her head down to try to sleep.

As she slept, he changed her top to a short sleeved on so he could inspect the damage done to her, and red tinted his vision again. Handprint shaped bruises were forming from her wrist to her forearm, overlapping in some places, and there was a purplish bruise wrapped around her throat. Her lip was split open, and bruises marred her pale, beautiful face. There was blood under her fingernails and her fingers looked broken in some places. And despite all that, despite what he suspected were worse injuries hiding under her clothing, she hadn't demanded that he fix her and kick him out for being the cause of it all. She'd fucking apologized. What the fuck was wrong with her?

He took her hand in his, and fixed her fingers, using more power than necessary to insure she wouldn't feel the pain of the healing, to let her continue to sleep. She continued to doze, and he ran a hand lightly up one arm and then the other, clearing the bruises from her arms, her throat, and then her face, and once he was done, he concentrated on leashing the rage boiling under the surface. He'd need to let it out soon, and once he'd found the two remaining Slayers, he'd have someone to let it out on. They'd regret the day they were born by the time Colt was done with them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Day 15 of 21:**

Fang came stalking down the stairs, and Colt kept an eye on him as he neared to Anelise. Despite- or because of- Aimee's friendship with the prickly Regis, Fang had quickly developed a hatred toward Anelise that ran deeper than the usual dislike of Arcadians around the bar.

Anelise was at the bar currently. He had brought up leaving for his newest hunt, but quickly retracted, saying he'd go in a few days at the flash of panic that had streaked across her features. So she sat at the far end of the bar near the wall, determinedly focused on the bartop in front of her, but he could tell by the slight tensing of her muscles, her tightened grip on her glass, the quick flashing of her eyes that she'd both scented and heard him arrive, and suddenly she was more on edge than ever. Even having Trip and the others at her back hadn't unnerved her so much. It had to be the Wolf scent, reminding her of her attacker.

He set another glass of soda in front of her with a gentle 'clink', but the sound was still enough to cause her to twitch- the forerunner to a startled jump- as she was yanked out of whatever memories were assaulting her. "You were running low." He said by way of explanation.

She only nodded, but he caught the flash of gratitude in her light grey eyes.

Aimee, waving idly at Fang, came over to set down her orders, right next to Anelise, and playfully bumped her shoulder. More tensing from the Leopardswan, though she was careful to conceal it, and even Colt wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been so tuned to her movements lately. It went over Aimee's notice entirely, and Colt raised an eyebrow. Anelise had always disliked being touched, and ever since the attack, that discomfort had magnified tenfold. That she not only let Aimee touch her so casually, but actually made an effort to hide her discomfort spoke volumes of her affection for his adoptive sister. He smiled at Aimee, and turned to fill her order and heard her tease the Regis; his mate.

Mate. Funny how the idea of it impacted him less as days passed. She was ferocious, cutthroat, snappish, and violent, but underneath all that, she was his. Ferocious, yes, but innately loyal for it. Cutthroat, but just as much in defense of those she cared for as herself. Snappish and violent, but she'd never raised a hand to him or Aimee or the rare cubs he's seen her around, and even the bar had started to grow on her, though she wouldn't admit it on pain of death. She had standards for her violence, which she tried to keep masked with her whisper-thin temper. But he's seen a lot since their mating countdown had begun, and his first opinion of the bitchy ice-queen Regis was slowly changing.

He heard Aimee's playful tone turn more serious, something he knew Ana wouldn't appreciate. "You've been really jumpy lately," she commented, watching Anelise for her reaction. Colt wanted to turn to see it for himself, but stayed still. "What's wrong with you?"

He could almost see Ana shrug the question off. "Just my pack, as always." She replied, so easily that even Colt couldn't hear the lie.

But it apparently didn't appease Aims. "It's more than that. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing." Now there was a discernible edge in the Leopardswan's voice. Colt turned, just in time to see Aimee grab Anelise's arm- not very roughly, but definitely firmly enough to set Ana's defenses off- and yank her around to look at her fully.

A small snarl escaped Anelise's lips, but that was her only reaction, and it didn't worry Aimee or Colt. Even Aims only blinked in surprise, not alarm or concern.

What concerned Colt, however, was Fang's answering snarl from across the bar, which preceded his running over to get between Aimee and Anelise, shoving Anelise roughly backwards, his hands pinning her to the wall. Aimee was shrieking in indignation, but all Colt saw was the flash of panic in Anelise's eyes, and he reacted without thinking. He slammed a palm flat on the bartop and swung himself over it, landing with a fierce scowl. He grabbed Fang by the collar of his jacket and yanked him off Anelise, going to stand in front of her, his marked hand drifting back to touch hers in a silent comfort. Her hand was shaking, and it sparked his temper so much that his vision blurred momentarily before he focused on Fang's startled face with deadly intent. "You manhandle my mate again, even Aims won't be able to save you." He growled, feeling his Sentinel markings show themselves. He controlled his rage and hide them quickly, but the lightning quick flash of them was enough to make Fang back off a step. But his scowl stayed fierce.

"Then keep her dammed hands off mine." He snarled in response.

Aimee grabbed Fang's arm, frightened by the look in Colt's eyes. "Fang, baby, I touched HER," She said, trying to pull him away from Colt. "She had a right to snap, she didn't even touch me."

Fang and Colt were still facing off, eyes locked until Fang tore his eyes away from Colt to glare at Anelise, who'd recovered enough to sneer at him. The demeaning movement snapped what little was left of Fang's limited restraint, and he spat at her. Aimee yanked Fang backwards, getting between and trying to prevent the brewing fight, as Colt lunged for him with rage filled eyes. Aimee yelled, but it was the cold touch of a slender hand that stilled Colt's movement entirely. He looked back at Anelise, whose pale hand still held his arm, and they looked at each other steadily, communicating in that silent way close couples tended to. Aimee soothed Fang's nerves while Anelise tended Colt's and finally, Fang stalked out the door to go for a ride, and Colt returned to behind the bar. Aimee looked up to meet Anelise's resigned gaze, and the Leopardswan jerked her head to the stairs that would lead them to the office for flashing. Aimee nodded, looking back at Colt, who was scrubbing at glasses with still-unspent rage in his stormy blue eyes.

They reached the office, and Aimee took Anelise's hand and the Leopardswan dropped them in her living room. She went straight to the kitchen to perch on the counter, moving aside one of Colt's sweatshirts without thinking. Aimee followed her with a vague sense of dread. As far as she knew, Colt and Anelise weren't the protective, touchy, silent-communication type of couple. They were more the thrown-together-for-the-cruel-amusement-of-the-fates-clusterfuck type of couple.

Anelise sat on the counter, her clear grey eyes watching Aimee as though trying to decide something. Aimee broke the silence, as per usual.

"So…. that was pretty intense." She sad, trying to keep her voice lighter than she felt.

"Yeah," The still-unmoving Leopard replied. "Sorry about that. Colton's been a little over, well, over-everything lately." She said unhelpfully.

"Why's he been so on edge? Both of you, for that matter. There IS something going on I don't know about, isn't there?"

She went so still and so silent that Aimee would have thought she'd fallen asleep, save for her piercing grey eyes boring into the Bearswan. When she finally did speak, her voice was solid and unwavering, and it delayed Aimee's reaction to the actual words with the casualness of her tone.

"Some Slayers came looking for Colton, and found me in his stead. They did what comes naturally to Katagari scorned."

The pieces fell together in her mind quickly, but it took Aimee almost a full minute before she could speak. "They… raped you?" She asked hesitantly, and was surprised when Anelise only shrugged.

"It sounds so bleak when you put it like that, but yes. Not THEY, though. Just one committed the act. A Lykos." She said, her serious eyes watching Aimee's reaction.

Aimee tried to control her reaction, but felt herself pale at Anelise's words. No wonder Colt had freaked out when Fang had touched her. "Oh, my god." she breathed.

"Yeah. So he's a little edgy still. Damn Bearswain thinks it's somehow HIS fault, and feels the need to make up for it." Anelise shrugged again.

"I'm sorry, I mean, I'm sure if he'd have known-" She didn't finish at the sight of Anelise's doubtful smirk. She was, of course, entirely right. Even if Fang had known, it wouldn't have stopped him. Hell, it'd probably have encouraged him, what with his venomous hatred toward the Regis.

She didn't say anything else, and Anelise spoke again. "We should be getting back."

Aimee just nodded, and they both flashed back to the bar without another word. Anelise went to settle into a booth on the far side of the bar, where she could ignore everyone and everyone could ignore her. Aimee didn't miss though, the assessing look Colt shot her as they descended the stairs. He really was concerned about her- that much was obvious. The question was; when the hell did that happen? Last she'd checked, they'd had some sort of tenuous truce going on, and had refused to speak about mating in any form. Now, it looked as though the decision had already been made, though she doubted it. She hoped they'd at least warn her when that happened.

But there was no doubting it; there was a definite affection for one another in their movements, the way she unconsciously looked for him when she was scanning the bar idly, in the way his eyes darted to her whenever the bargoers started getting rowdy and when the boys started showing up. Aimee was serving a round when she overheard Colt and Dev talking.

"You gotta get away from her, man. She's bad news." Dev was saying. Colt focused on his bar cleaning with an intensity that suggested it was forced, and didn't respond.

Dev sighed. "Colt, bro, you know it's true. Look at everything that's happened since she arrived. She's like a jinx!" He said, loudly enough for half the bar to hear. And Anelise certainly heard it. Aimee glanced to the Leopardswan, who was clenching her jaw and looking anywhere but at the boys, her temper obviously spiking.

How dare Dev try to blame they're bad luck on Anelise? They'd always had bad luck, cumulating in the deaths of their parents, decades before Anelise came around. Dev was just being an ass, acting as though he hadn't caused any trouble on his wild hunt for Samia. Stupid, hypocritical asswipe.

Colt, meanwhile, was still not responding. But Dev didn't take the hint. He punched Colt lightly in the arm. "Dude, no woman is worth that kind of trouble. She's already got you and Fang at each other's throats, and the guys barely trust you to confide in anymore. She's gonna seriously fuck your life up, man, to a point you won't be able to come back from."

Aimee's eyes flashed to Anelise, whose jaw dropped as she blinked in hurt and surprise- as Colt's already thin patience snapped on Dev.

"You don't have any idea what the fuck you're-"

"Colt!" Aimee called as Anelise vanished silently from the corner, no one noticing the disappearance of the quiet woman from the dark, solitary corner.

He cut off mid-sentance, looking over to Aimee at her wail. She pointed to the now-empty corner, the glass Anelise had been holding still rolling around on the table after it's holder vanished mid-air. Colt sighed and shot a glare at Dev. "You fucking happy now?" he snapped. He wanted to go after her, but he knew better. Better to let her calm down first and besides, if he did it'd only prove the guys right about him.

"Yeah," Dev snapped in return. "And you should be, too. Be fucking happy to be rid of her for a while. If only it were permanent."

Suddenly, Aimee was in Dev's face, shoving him backwards. "What is WRONG with you?! She wasn't even doing anything! You act like she comes in here and purposefully baits you, you stupid oaf!"

Dev didn't react to Aimee's shoving. Like Colt with Anelise, he knew better than to respond in kind to his volatile sister. But that didn't mean he had to hold his tongue.

"She DOES. Her presence here baits us. And I know you have some weird fascination with the chick, but look what she's done. Even your mate snapped off at her and she almost had him and Colt tearing out each other's throats. What's the common denominator, Aims?"

"Stupidity, as far as I can tell. I love my mate with all my heart, but he snaps off at everyone, and he overreacted to her. Honestly, her being a Regis, I'm surprised she held back as well as she did. As for you-!" She was cut off by Colt's hand on her shoulder.

"Aimee, enough. He's right. I've changed since Ana came into town. Just like he did when Sam first walked into the bar. It's what happens. You cant help it, or predict it, you just have to roll with the punches. And if he can't relate the two situations, then it's just the way it's going to be."

Dev rolled his eyes at Colt's tone. "Oh, yeah, because you're so pure you can judge the rest of us. At least MY mate didn't have a say in damming half the Weres here." Dev retorted. "I'm out of here. If that's ok with you, Colt." He added facetiously.

Colt rolled his eyes and went back to the bar. Dev walked off, irritated that Colt didn't react, and walked to the door, talking with Remi, who was currently playing bouncer. Aimee shook her hair out of her eyes, still annoyed and Colt smiled at her. "Don't worry so much about her, Aims. She's tough. She'll get over it."

"She shouldn't have to!" Aimee replied, still distressed. Colt's smile grew. "She's used to it, Aims. Whether we like it or not, she is and has been for a long time. I'll see her tonight. I'll make sure she's ok."

Aimee nodded reluctantly, not liking that her friend was in pain, and somewhat jealous that Colt assumed that he was the only one who could possibly go make her feel better. She pushed aside her jealousy, and went back to her job.


	10. Chapter 10

A few days later, Anelise still hadn't returned to the bar. Colt had talked to her that night, and she wasn't outright angry, but she was acting distant. She wouldn't talk at length with Colt, and she was shorter with him than she'd been since the morning they'd been mated. It was as though she didn't want to risk getting any closer to him after what Dev had said. He didn't want to admit it, but her coldness hurt, especially after experiencing her warmth. But he didn't know how to make it better. Dev, Remi, Fang and his brother Vane had all but stopped talking to him and while the Howlers hadn't stopped, they had severely limited what they shared with him. Only Aimee, Kyle, and Carsen were still treating him normally. But he could only worry about so many things at once, and his mating date was getting closer with every day that passed.

* * *

She was going to bring him down, she could feel it. She was going to be the thing that- after all these centuries of being the strong, collected Sentinel he was- was finally going to destroy Colton. And she hated herself for that. And she hated the small part of her that wanted to not care, so long as he stayed around her. But she couldn't let that happen. She had to stay away, keep herself from being any more drawn in than she already was, and she had to do it at any cost.

She padded around her home, cleaning. Colton was far messier than she was, and for once, she actually had things to pick up. Colton's things, clothes, DVDs, CDs, glasses and various personal effects littered her home. So she cleaned, and idly thought about the Bearswain who'd weaseled his way into her heart.

Suddenly, something- someone- threw themselves at her from behind, and sent her tumbling to the ground. She reacted instinctively and threw them off her, spinning around with a snarl. If those dammed Slayers had-

But it was the smug snarl of her cousin that greeted her, backed by four other Leopards. Anelise's bravado faltered, and her eyes widened in horror. They'd found her home. Not only found it, but managed to get inside it, despite all the precautions she'd taken to insure she'd have ample time to prepare for such an assault. For this exact reason now. She was outnumbered, off guard, and practically helpless in the face of five Snow Leopards that knew all her flaws and weaknesses. They were going to tear her apart, limb by limb. Without thinking clearly, she ran for the door. Her sudden bolt startled them, and she got just past them before they gave chase. They let her get as far as the cliff top before flashing in front of her, cutting off her escape by attacking at once. She was too distracted by the five Leopards on her to think of anywhere to flash. Desperately, she mentally called to Aimee.

~Aims, my mountain! Help!~

Within a minute, Aimee and her brother Kyle were there, and they leaped in to help. They took out a couple, but Anelise was still locked in a battle with her cousin Nera. She could feel Nera pushing her in a direction behind her, but it took her a second to remember what was behind her.

A cliff. A dangerously high cliff that would likely only end in someone's death.

She fought tooth and nail to stay away from the cliff top, but Nera was determined and strong and Anelise was off-guard and unprepared and hardly stood a chance. Nera worried her all the way to the edge when Anelise threw herself back at Nera with all her strength, shoving her backwards. Nera screeched in indignation and rolled, sending them both over the edge. Anelise screamed as she scrambled for a foothold on the cliff's rocky side. She mAneged to get a hold on the cliff, her fingers digging painfully into the rock, her feet scrabbling against the rocky wall, slowing her descent until she stopped. Nera slid past her and grasped Anelise's back leg to keep herself from falling.

Once they'd both gone tumbling over the edge, Aimee and Kyle dashed to look over the cliff to see where the two women landed. As they did, in the span of a few seconds, everything went to shit. Nera yanked Anelise's leg, distracting her from flashing to safety as she kicked out, trying to dislodge Nera before they both plummeted down. Aimee was vaguely aware of Kyle's yelling at something in the distance and Colt's sudden arrival behind her. The next second passed in a blur as Nera flashed away to the sound of the electrical buzzing of a fazer as it zapped downward at an alarming rate, a furious roar from Colt, a harsh crunch as Kyle threw himself in front of Colt to keep him from throwing himself over the edge after Anelise, a horrified scream Aimee couldn't recognize as her own, and the broken, pain-filled shriek from Anelise as the fazer caused her to lose control of her forms and lose her grip on the rock. She tumbled down the cliff to land in the snow with a sickening, dull thud, where she lay still and unmoving except for her flashing forms until she finally turned human, and stayed human.

"ANE!" Colt roared, and some part of Aimee's mind noted that she'd never heard anyone refer to Anelise by any sort of nickname. He shoved Kyle off him and flashed to her side, desperately trying to wake her.

The Leopards flashed out one by one, leaving Aimee sobbing from the top of the cliff, watching Colt try to revive his mate while Kyle-looking sick- flashed out, until only one was left, a few hundred yards away. Her caustic voice easily reached Aimee's Bear ears.

"I won't take full blame for this, Bear. I had loads of fun, don't get me wrong, but I'd have never found her so easily without help from your brothers."

Aimee turned her tear-stained face to the unrepentant Leopardswan. "What?" She managed through her tears.

"Your brothers. The surly one and the one screwing a Dark Huntress. THEY gave us the insider information we needed. We'll be by to thank them later. Do svidaniya." And with that, she, too, was gone.

Aimee saw red. Leaving Colt to tend to Anelise's still prone body, she flashed home. She didn't see Remi- the surly one- immediately, but Dev- who was dating one of Ash's Dark Hunters, Samia- was leaning on the bar, laughing with Trip. He was laughing right up until the moment she stalked over to him and slapped him clean across his face.

"You stupid BASTARD!" She shrieked, causing everyone to look over to her in alarm. "How could you DO that to her?! She's DEAD, and it's all because of YOU!"

Angel, Slash, and Justin eyed her from the stage, as did the other supernatural beings that littered the bar. Trip backed up a few paces as the dozens of mortals followed suit.

Dev rubbed his bright red cheek, looking around at the humans with a frown. "Aimee, you're making a scene. Can't this wait until later?" he snapped.

Her eyes flashed with furious fire, and she snarled in response. "You want a fucking scene, Devereaux? I'll give you a goddammed Broadway Musical," She threatened before turning on the bar-goers.

"EVERYBODY OUT! THE BAR IS FUCKING CLOSED!" She roared. No one wasted any time; anyone who wasn't a Were, Hunter, or God ran as fast as they could for the door. She spun on Dev, more angry with him and Remi than she could ever remember being with anyone. "You set her up! You handed her, gift wrapped, to the people who hate her most! They fazered her off a fucking CLIFF, Devereaux! Is that what you wanted?! Is that how you PLANNED it?! I didn't even know you COULD hate someone so much! So it turns out I don't even know you at all!"

He had the good grace to look concerned about the 'fazered off a cliff' part, which in the back corner of her mind relived her; he hadn't planned that particularly sadistic part of it. But then her anger rose again as he recovered, looking indignant and angry. "I did it for us, Aims. That woman is a menace. I did what I had to to keep us all safe." He said with a pointed look at the Howlers.

"Us all?! You stupid bastards are the ones who are always starting shit! She sits here, trying to ignore you for the sake of me and Colt, and you pick and pick and pick at her until she's forced to react!"


	11. Chapter 11

[[Hey all, sorry it took me so long to realize I was missing a chapter. Shouldn't be updating late at night lol Here's the missing piece!]]

Colt flashed next to the Regis and manifested some clothes for her. He shook her, trying to wake her, choking on his words. "Ane, please, wake up." He begged his unmoving mate. Tears slid down his cheeks, but he didn't notice them. He pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her mess of dark hair, trying to feel or sense breathing, or a heartbeat, anything. He jerked in shock when he felt her dangerously faint heartbeat, and instantly flashed to two of them to the Medical Wing in Sanctuary.

"Move." He snapped at Carsen as he passed him to find some place to lay her down. He went into the back room, kicking the door shut behind him, shutting out everyone and focusing on Anelise to try to strengthen her heartbeat. He hadn't realized he was so invested in her, but facts were facts. She couldn't die. He had to fix her; there was no alternative.

He focused his energy first on her heart, trying to give it some strength, then on her internal injuries. He managed to fix the worst of the mess, and took a quick break to throw the door open and yell for Aimee. "Aims! I've got Ane!"

He flashed back to Ane's side, brushing her hair out of her face, and trying to hurry along her injuries. He'd stopped her internal bleeding, and managed to get her heartbeat strong enough to hear, but she was still not stirring. "C'mon, girl. Don't give up now. Not after all the shit we've taken. Wake up," He muttered as he went back to her internal injuries. He heard Aimee rushing up the stairs, and a couple other sets of footsteps.

~Colt,~ Aimee said into his mind, ~It was Dev and Remi. They set her up. They showed the Leopards how to get to her house. Don't let them near her.~ She finished her warning a split second before she opened the door to the hospital wing and spun around to block access to Dev and a few of the others, who'd followed her upstairs. "Back off, Devereaux." She growled.

"She's in our hospital wing, we have a right to be in here." He retorted. Suddenly, Colt was at Aimee's side, towering angrily over them all.

"You have no right to anything right now, Dev. Did you do this to her?" He asked, wanting it not to be true, wanting Dev to not have done this to him, and Aimee and most importantly, to Ane.

Dev clenched his jaw, not denying it, and Colt felt his heart go heavy with betrayal. "I had to protect us somehow, Colt. You of all people have to get it."

Colt could hardly stand to look at him, even though his brother's words rang venomously true. "Me of all people, Dev? Because I kill for a living? I kill those who put others in danger. Not Regis's I think I have a score to settle with. We're mated, Dev, did you even think about that? What if we'd bonded already? You're seriously ready to kill me just to be rid of her?"

Dev looked sick, as though he hadn't considered that, but only for a moment, then the smug indignation was back. "You wouldn't be stupid enough to bond with someone like her." He scoffed.

Colt shoved Dev backwards, farther away from the door, and for once Dev didn't fight back. "Someone like her?" He snapped, losing his patience, "'Her' happens to be my mate, whether you like it or not, Dev. We're mated, and we're gonna stay that way until we both die." He snapped, not thinking about the impact of his words, just knowing he had to shut Dev up and wipe that smug look from his face.

Dev, Trip, Justin, and even Aimee fell into shocked silence at his announcement. He took advantage of that to grab the door now that no one was in the way of it's closing. "Stay away from my mate." He threatened before slamming the door in their faces and pulling Aims back to Anelise.

He put Aimee immediately to work cooling down Anelise, who even in consciousness wasn't used to the heat of New Orleans, and he went back to healing her. Ten minutes later, she was breathing steadily and her heartbeat was normal once more, and he was feeling better even though she hadn't woken up yet. He leaned against the wall, exhausted and spent, but relieved he'd managed to heal her. Aimee came next to him, and helped him into a chair, and laid a cool cloth against his forehead. "You ok, bro?"

He glanced at Anelise, whose breathing you could clearly see now, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Just tired."

She nodded, and went to go get a new cloth. She was distracted by a sudden commotion downstairs, and she went for the door. She opened it, and was immediately hit by the scent of Snow Leopard. She quailed back, closing the door again and running for Colt, worried they'd come to finish the job. "Colt!"

He was instantly up at her tone. "What?"

"The Snow Leopards, they're back. They're downstairs."

He frowned, and went for the door, even though she could tell he was still in pain from healing Anelise. He glanced back at Aimee where she stood next to Anelise. "Take care of her, I'll deal with the Snow Leopards. Don't let anyone near her, except Carsen."

Aimee nodded, and Colt slipped out the door, closing it firmly behind him, and padded downstairs. He came up short as he took note of the four Snow Leopards that littered the bar. One twirling a pool cue by the pool tables, one sitting regally in a booth the same way Anelise usually sat, one hovering by the door- either cutting off escape or preventing others from coming back in-, and the leader- Nera, who he'd met before- standing on the bar top, tiptoeing across the bar. It was Nera who spoke, just as he'd remembered.

"Well, well, well…. looky what we have here. Sisters, I count not one." A look to Trip, "not two, or three," a look to Slash and Angel, "but four pretty little Slayers, ripe for the killing."

Dev snarled at her but kept his distance. "This is a Limani. You can't touch them here."

She pretended to pout. "Ooooh, you're so right. But. They can't stay in here forever. They'll go mad. They have to leave eventually, and when they do, we'll be waiting. One step outside these protected doors, and they'll be ours." She looked around happily, "I'm afraid we haven't been introduced yet. I'm Nera, the NEW Niphetos Pardalia Regis, now that my dear cousin is sadly deceased. Now that she's not around to stop our fun, you'll all be seeing a hell of a lot more of us around. Do svidaniya, my wonderful bounties." She bowed, and she and the others vanished, but they could feel one still hovering, on the rooftop across the street.

Colt met Dev's eyes, and shook his head. "Still feeling good about how you "helped" all of us?" He scowled and went back upstairs.

He went back upstairs, leaving Dev and Remi- wherever his chickenshit ass was hiding- to deal with the anger of the Howlers. He had more important things to deal with.

Hours passed, and Aimee had been switching positions almost every half hour. She was sitting, worrying, pacing across the floor, flashing to her room and back and pacing once more. She was as flighty as he was still. He didn't drift away from Anelise, he stayed near to her in case something else happened. He pulled up a chair next to the table and sat, his head in his hands, waiting for some sign of life other than the now-steady sound of her heartbeat. Carsen checked in on them, but he knew Colt was almost as skilled as he was, and twice as powerful, and he never stayed long.

Finally, she started twitching, whimpering in her unconsciousness, and he was up, brushing her hair out of her eyes, waiting to see if she would wake. She started flailing in her sleep, mumbling Nera and Colt and Aimee's names, and then suddenly shot up into a sitting position with a shriek. Colt was instantly there, his hands on her cheeks, keeping her hair out of her eyes so she could see him, talking to her, "Ane, it's ok, it's me. Ane baby, I'm here, don't worry, you're ok." It took her a second for her wide, terrified eyes to calm, and she was still breathing harshly, and shaking. She, in an uncharacteristic show of affection, threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He stroked her long, dark hair, his arms around her, waiting patiently for her terror to pass. Aimee stood in the corner, trying to stay inconspicuous while they held each other.

She finally calmed down and pulled back, pulling away from Colt entirely and wrapping her arms around herself instead, looking to Colt and Aimee with uncertain eyes. "What happened?" She asked.

Aimee swallowed hard, unable to speak, so Colt did it for her, his Sentinel training making his voice monotone and solid. "You cousin found you. Nera."

She was shaking her head already. "No, that was a nightmare. She was in my home… she and the others were…" She looked at Colt, her eyes begging him to tell her it was just a dream. "They were… not, a dream… were they?"

He shook his head. "No, Ane, they weren't. They got into your home and from what I understand, chased you to a cliff, and Nera sent you both over the edge. You were hanging on and-"

"And she was holding onto me, and then there was this buzzing sound, and then… then I couldn't think straight." She finished. "A fazer, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "And you fell. From the top of your cliff."

"And Nera?"

"She flashed out before she could be hurt."

"The fall should've killed me, though."

"It almost did. You were bleeding, a lot, inside and out." He said, and finally his voice was catching. Even his Sentinel training couldn't keep him completely unaffected. "I couldn't even really hear your heartbeat. But I managed to fix you up. It's been almost a full day since. I thought you weren't going to wake up."

She smirked, trying to diffuse his serious tone. "Yeah, you only wish you were so lucky." She teased, then looked to Aimee, who was still half hidden in the corner. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry." She blurted.

"Sorry for what?"

"It's our fault. They only found you because you opened your home to-" She cut herself off, not wanting to go any farther. But Anelise was already looking suspicious.

"Opened my home to what? I only opened it to you two." She said, glancing from one to the other.

"And our family." She blurted again.

Anelise's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What does THAT mean, precisely?"

Aimee looked to Colt, who was torn between telling Anelise the truth and protecting his brothers. But, looking at her and Aimee, he sighed. "She means it was Dev and Remi who escorted your cousins to you home. You opened it up to the family, which included them. They set you up."

Her jaw dropped. "They… set me up?" She said, confused.

Colt nodded, and she looked about to lose it. But at the last second, she took a deep breath and spoke again, her voice icy and almost back to normal. "Fine. I'll deal with that later. As for now… they were in my home. I can't go there. And I can't-" She faltered, but quickly recovered, "I can't stay here, either. I have no where else to go." She said, looking close to unraveling again. Aimee had never seen her so undone, so bipolar and coming apart at the seams.

Colt was there again, an arm around her, steadying her. "We'll go to my place. No one will find you there."

Aimee twisted her hands nervously. "Colt, the Snow Leopards-"

"Aims." Colt snapped. "You can discuss it later. Right now, she needs to rest. I'll be back later." He bent down to Anelise, who pushed his hands away, swinging her feet over the edge of the table.

"I can help myself." She snapped, standing. Her legs immediately gave out from under her, and both Colt and Aimee dove to catch her, but it was Colt who ended up scooping her up in his arms, smirking down at her. "Indulge me anyway." He teased.

She sniffed, and crossed her arms across her chest, but she was flushing with embarrassment, and she didn't say anything. He leaned over to kiss Aimee's forehead and flashed them out, to his hideout home in the bayou.


	12. Chapter 12

She looked around at the little shack she hadn't seen since the morning they'd been mated, and it brought all sorts of memories to surface, and paired with her already volatile emotions, it was too much. She started crying, and shifted her legs out of Colton's grip and managed her way to the edge of the dock, a hand covering her mouth, tears silently sliding down her cheeks. She wasn't made for this kind of emotion. She couldn't deal with Colton and Aimee and her cousins and an apparent assassination attempt. Between wanting Colton, and wanting to please Aimee and wanting vengeance on so many people and her injuries, she was spent, emotionally and physically. So she resorted to her tried-and-true tactic; avoidance and solitarism. Colton came a few paces closer, and she held out a hand to stop him, keeping her back to him in a refusal to even look at him. "Don't. Just, go inside or away or… something."

* * *

He didn't know what happened. One second, she was in his arms, somewhat returning to normal; the next, she was crying on his dock. He crossed a few paces nearer to her but her hand flew up in defense, and he stopped. "Don't," She said, the words cutting into him, "Just, go inside or away or… something."

He blinked, hurt and confused and a little irritated that she wouldn't accept even his company while she was so undone. But she was hurting too, so he clenched his jaw against snapping at her, and just nodded tightly. "Fine. I'll be inside." He said, and padded into his little swamp-side shack.

* * *

She shouldn't have done that. She hurt him. But there was no other way she knew to act. She hadn't had to worry about other's feelings for so long it was hard to remember proper protocol when there were actually people around to help you. She only knew how to let it all out and get it over with and get over it and go back to normal. She let herself cry her emotions away, cry her pain away, and kept her mouth covered as to not make too much noise, falling to her knees on Colton's shabby little dock overlooking the swamp and it's gators.

* * *

He couldn't take much more of this. He couldn't stand by and let her sob out there and pretend he didn't care. He vaguely remembered that drunken night he'd called her here, before everything had gotten so complicated so quickly. He hadn't even really liked her then, but she'd come at a moment's notice for him. Something no one else had done. And now, he lay on his bed, a pillow covering his face, trying to pretend he couldn't hear her crying outside. She was hurt and injured and sad and freaked out and here he sat like a jackass, pretending he thought she'd been serious when she wanted him away from her.

He heard her knees hit the planks, and it was the final straw. He swung his long legs off the bed and crossed the space between inside his bedroom and where she crouched on the dock in the span of a few seconds, and he knelt next to her, crouching at her side, a lone hand falling on her shoulder.

* * *

She should've known he wouldn't leave her here for long. It's wasn't something he could do anymore than she could admit she needed him there. She swiped a hand across her eyes, and raised her eyes to his.

* * *

"You remember the last time you were here? When you came just because I was drunk and I asked you to?" She nodded, and he smiled at her before looking out over the bayou, letting her escape his solid gaze. "You didn't have to do that. You didn't have to do anything. You CHOSE to come to me, and for the life of me, I still can't figure out why."

"Because you needed me." She said simply.

He nodded. "I did, it turns out." He cast her a side glance before, "Just like you need me now."

She managed a small smile to herself. "And here you are. My very own white knight."

He turned to face her fully, slipping a hand under hers to lift them up, palm to palm, mating marks against one another. "We're in this whether we like it or not. So you may as well stop running. Because you may have me on speed, but I've got you hella beat on stamina."

She looked startled, but she didn't pull away. "Do you now, Bearswain?"

He grinned and nodded. "You bet your ass on it."

She shook her head, shaking her hair out of her face, not sure how to respond to such a statement. So she opted for honesty. "I'm a little out of my element, here." She admitted with an unsure look.

He nodded again, "I figured." He said, tugging her up with him. "So allow me to teach you a few things. First, when you're upset, you don't have to deal alone. That's why I'm here. Second, hugs," He demonstrated by pulling her into his arms, "Are not horrible things. They can actually be quite pleasant when executed properly. And lastly for tonight," He said, leaning in to kiss her lightly, "Kissing should not, under any circumstance, be a foreign thing." He finished, and leaned in for another kiss, touching his lips lightly to hers. She was tense at first, but with a soft sigh, she melted into the kiss, her arms wrapping behind his neck, rising on her tiptoes to meet him evenly, her chest pressed against his. She kissed him like he was her life preserver, making him forget her injuries, and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him and lifting her off the ground. He flashed them inside, and fell backwards onto the bed. She giggled, and immediately pulled away, ducking her head in embarrassment as he grinned down at her. "Was that a genuine giggle I just heard from the harsh and stoic Anelise Romano?" He teased.

She was blushing furiously. Oh yeah, definitely a giggle. "No!" She protested. "I do not giggle. Don't be absurd."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, and rolled quickly to pin her under him,his hands pinning hers loosely above her. He felt her tense for a split second, but almost instantly relaxed into his grip. He shifted both her hands to grip them both loosely in one hand, as the other traced a trail down her side. He felt her shiver, and she bit her lip to keep from giggling again. He knew why she didn't want to; it was completely undignified in her eyes, something children and fools did. And that was exactly why he wanted to hear it again; because the world wasn't here, just him, and she had to learn it was ok to be undignified sometimes.

He traced back up her side, grinning down at her. "C'mon, just one more little giggle, and I'll stop."

She grinned back up at him, and he was struck- not for the first time- by how pretty she really was when she wasn't scowling or snarling or trying to be Regis. "Never!" She cried.

He laughed and leaned down to her, nuzzling into her side, making her dissolve into laughter. She tried to keep him at bay, and when that failed, she tried to tickle him back. But he had the upper hand and was quicker than her, and it wasn't long before she was calling out between her gasps of laughter, "Ok, ok! Uncle! I give! Stop!"

He finally stopped, and fell at her side, their legs tangled casually. She was gasping, but smiling still, and he was pleased to see her so relaxed.


	13. Chapter 13

Colton smiled as she lay back on his bed, one arm slung behind her head, propping her up so she could look at him. She smiled up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her. A couple weeks ago, he wouldn't have imagined being anywhere near the prickly Regis, let alone laying in bed kissing her. But as her hand came up to stroke his cheek, he couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be. He rolled back over her, bracing his weight on his palms flat on the bed, leaning down to kiss her, and her hands traced patterns down his chest, over his shirt, until they paused at the hem of his shirt, but for only half a heartbeat, then her hands were cool on his skin, running over his stomach up his chest. Just as her wrists started to pull up his shirt with their movement, it was gone, along with his jeans. He was still in his boxers, and for whatever reason, he found it adorable that she was still shy enough to only take part of his clothing. "I think you're missing something," he murmured, nuzzling her neck.

She smiled to herself, arching her back to press their bodies together. "I'm sure I've no idea what you're talking about." She replied, her voice low and husky, dripping with innuendous thoughts she couldn't bring herself to share.

"Well, allow me to demonstrate." He said as his boxers vanished with her clothes. She shrieked in surprise, but didn't hide, as he'd have expected. She just watched him with those clear grey eyes that were always waiting for reactions. But the flush creeping up her neck told him that she was plenty embarrassed, just making an effort to hide it. He nuzzled her again, not pressuring her, but letting some of his weight press her into the bed, "You're beautiful."

"I'm already mated to you, Colton. You don't need to butter me up."

He frowned, lifting his head. "You really don't get it, do you?"

She shrugged her pale, bare shoulder, and his cock jerked. He forced himself to wait. If he pushed her, he was going to end up either alone and sterile, or alone and cock-less, if she was in a particularly violent mood. Either way, he'd lose.

"This whole setup may have started out as some fucked up joke, but I think for once the Fates knew what they were doing. I can't think of anyone who would put up with as much shit as you do. My jobs, my hours, my temper, my everything. You're the only one who takes it all in stride, and now that I've had that, I can't live without it. I'd go crazy." He said, tilting her chin up with a finger to force her to look at him. "I'd go crazy without you."

She narrowed her eyes, "This is all because I told Aimee I was falling in love with you, isn't it? Godammit I knew I shouldn't have told her that, I love the girl to death but you just can't trust her to-"

"Wait, wait, wait, you told Aimee what? She didn't tell me anything." He said, a grin growing. Her mouth snapped shut with a clicking of teeth as she realized she'd just given herself away. "You do feel it, don't you, you little shit. You're just pretended to hate everything about this."

She rolled her eyes, straining for some sort of control as she gave in and confessed what she'd told Aimee not even three days ago. "Fine, so maybe I did. You're the only one who's ever been consistently nice to me, aside from your sister and I think we both know she doesn't really count. You don't judge me based on who I am or what I've done. It's… refreshing. And yeah, so maybe I said I was falling for you. You're charming, it'd be hard not to."

"You were falling?" Now he was just fucking with her.

She met his eyes with a wry twisting of her lips, knowing his game. "Have fallen." She admitted. "Happy?"

"More than you know." He laughed and started kissing her all over her face, working his way lower. He nipped at her ribs, and she twitched with a mew, and her hand slid up his thigh, cupping him and making him groan and nuzzle her stomach. Suddenly, her hands passed his cock and slid up his chest, and pushed him off her, so that she could roll him onto his back and straddle him. She leaned down to kiss him, more at ease than she'd ever been. "Now that formalities are out of the way, what are we going to do about this?" She asked, holding up her marked palm. He reached up to take her hand in his. "Woman's pick, baby."

She grinned, crouching over him, her soft core dangerously close to his cock, but it was dampened for a moment. "Then we're doing this, but I'm not bonding. I've already almost died twice just since meeting you; I'm not dragging you down to my level."

He was disappointed, but he nodded. He understood. He would have thought the same if his cock and his heart weren't overriding his brain. "Deal."

She slid herself down on him, and he moaned, refraining from thrusting against her. Ritual dictated that she had to do it her way, her pace. A excruciating as it was for him.

As though reading his thoughts, she started moving against him, and his hands flew up, wanting to gran her hips and urge her faster, and he just caught himself in time and rubbed them up her back instead, his nails digging into her skin. She arched her back her eyes closing in pleasure before she pinned his shoulders down and started moving her hips against his faster, bringing him as deep into her as she could manage. One hand on his shoulder, one still grasping his, pressing against his other shoulder, she let out a ragged breath before her soft voice said the word's he'd, for a moment, thought she was going to forgo.

"I accept you as you are, and I will always hold you close in my heart. I will walk beside you forever." She said, her eyes a darker, storm gray with passion, and his doubt fled. He repeated them back to her, finishing his statement with a kiss before pulling back as his fangs lengthened as the thirio attacked without warning. She cried out, wanting the same thing he did, but they were both more controlled than that, and it passed, quickly replaced by an orgasm equally as intense, as though trying to match the thirio for intensity. She cried out again, calling his name, and braced herself against him, her palms flat on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him, and they stayed like that until their breathing had slowed enough to allow speech. "Damn," He managed.

She nodded, knowing what he meant, and she curled into his chest, a purr rumbling in her throat. He laughed, and kissed her forehead. "You make more animal sounds than any Arcadian I've ever met."

She rolled her eyes, nuzzling into him. "I don't mind my fur," She said, meaning her second form, "Too many Arcadians don't appreciate what they have in their fur. How sad it must be to be merely mortal and have to walk life alone. No mate, no pack, no fur. It'd be the most awful thing I could imagine."

* * *

He stroked her hair as he thought about that. He hadn't ever really thought about what it'd be like to NOT be a Were-Hunter. But she made a good point. Where would he be without his family- his pack- or his second form that he could escape to when things got to be too much? And even his job? What could he be doing if he wasn't hunting Slayers, keeping everyone safe? And where would he be without her? He'd be one sorry excuse for a man, that's for sure. He'd have no meaning, no purpose, no anything. "I'd never thought about it that way."

She nodded. "I doubt most breeds have."

"But you have."

Another nod. "I have. Often. My mother always told me to appreciate everything I was given, even if it may not always seem like a gift, it really is. You just have to look at it that way."

He smiled down at her as he started to drift off. He felt her fingers tracing on his cheeks, and feeling the familiar pattern, he quickly hid his sentinel markings. She hissed in annoyance. "Hey, bring those back."

He shook his head. "Not a chance."

She cocked her head at him, her eyebrows furrowed. "Why not?"

"Because nothing good ever comes from them." He replied with a frown. She watched him for a long moment with those eyes that just moments earlier, he'd been admiring but that now felt intense in their scrutiny. Finally, just when he thought she'd start the uncomfortable questions, she shrugged. "Suit yourself, then." She said, and curled back into his chest. She only stayed for a moment before she suddenly got up. "Bathroom." She said by way of explanation. But as she stumbled in the doorway, he saw her grab her side as she forced herself to the bathroom to shut the door.

He wanted to kick himself. Her injuries, how could he have forgotten? She shouldn't have been rolling around in bed, and she damn well shouldn't mating and going through the thirio right now. He probably about killed her with that. "Ane?" He called.

"Yeah?" She called back, sounding normal enough.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine! I'll be out in a minute!" She called back. And she sounded fine enough, so he grabbed a pillow from the floor and lay back on the bed, wondering how accurate her 'fine' really was.

* * *

She crouched in the bathroom, one hand grasping the sink for balance, the other holding her ribs. She gasped in her breaths, trying to keep it quiet. She shouldn't have let herself do that, not so soon after almost dying. What had she been thinking? The thirio and the sex had obviously been too much to handle. Her lungs were burning, her ribs felt bruised and every breath so took took an inordinate amount of effort. The room started blurring in front of her, and she felt herself blacking out.

~No.~ She thought to herself. ~Do not do this. Not here. Not now.~ She managed to keep a grip on her conciousness, but she couldn't force out any more effort to stand. It took all her effort to breath and stay awake.

* * *

She'd been in there too long for his liking. Something was wrong. "Ane?" He called again, getting off the bed and walking over to the bathroom door.

She didn't answer this time, but he could hear her gasping in the bathroom. "Open the door, or at least get decent, because I'm coming in anyway." He warned. The lock didn't unclick, and he sighed before opening it himself and inching the door open. She was braced against the door, and he couldn't get it more than an inch or two open before just flashing in. She was on the floor, crouched protectively over her stomach, one arm wrapped around herself, one bracing on the sink to keep her from falling. He crouched down by her, laying a hand on her ribs, resealing her broken two, and moved his hand to her chest, helping clear her lungs so she could breathe steadily. "Oh, baby," he muttered, lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bed and laying her down.

"It would've passed." She said, speaking now that breathing wasn't so difficult.

"I know. But you would've been in pain until then, and I already told you you don't have to suffer while I'm around. It was the thirio that did it, wasn't it. I'm so-"

She covered his lips with her hand. "What is it with you and apologizing for sex?" She asked, an irritated edge to her voice, and he wanted to laugh at the sudden memory of the morning they'd been mated, when he'd tried to apologize for the drunken sex and she'd snapped at him for it, saying it'd offend her. So now, he nodded, and laid back against the pillows, and opened an arm to her. She hesitated a moment, then leaned into him, burying her face into his side. He tightened his arm around her, and forced himself to stay awake until he was sure she was dozing next to him. It took a while, but eventually he started to drift off too.

~Colt?~ Aimee's voice drifted through his thoughts.

~I'm here. You ok?~

~For the most part. The Leopard outside still hasn't left, and when Trip went out to take out the trash, they attacked. They weren't kidding about watching us, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt. Or dies. I'm afraid, Colt.~

He was, too. But he knew what she was asking. They both knew that, for whatever reason, Anelise had been the sole obstacle standing between her cousin and her assembled militia, and complete anarchy. But not only was Ane not in any position to be fighting for her title, but he seriously doubted she'd have any interest in keeping her cousin away from Sanctuary. ~I'll ask her, Aims. But it's not gonna be soon. She needs time to recover. Being attacked in your home and thrown from a cliff out on your front yard takes a toll on someone. Just tell the guys to lie low, and when I think she's ready, I'll ask her. But even then, I can't say she'll do it.~

He could almost hear Aimee's disappointed sigh. ~Alright. Will you be coming back?~

~In a couple days. I don't want to leave her alone right now.~

~You know she loves you, right?~

He smiled down at the sleeping form of his mate, raking his marked hand through his hair. ~Yeah. I know.~

~Do you love her?~

~Enough to not ask her do this just because I'm the one asking. I'll talk to you later, Aims.~


	14. Chapter 14

Days passed, and they stayed in his little bayou home. He offered to buy them something in the city, something with more space, but she would only shake her head, shrinking away from the thought of leaving. He knew she didn't like thinking she was intruding on his private getaway, and he knew she only stayed because the thought of being somewhere someone could find her terrified her. So eventually he stopped bringing it up, and just made sure his little kitchen was stocked with things she liked.

He worked nights at Sanctuary, and she stayed around the bayou, chilling in the house and picking fights with gators, and without them realizing it, days turned to months. Every week or so, Aimee would broach the topic of having Anelise speak with her cousin about laying off the bar. But he always told her the same thing, "Not now, Aims."

The guys were starting to open up again to him and things were getting back to normal, though it was all overshadowed by the lingering presence of the Leopards outside. Justin, Trip, Angel, Slash, Fang, almost no one could cold even go to throw away the trash without being harassed by a group of Leopards. Except for the one on the roof, they always traveled in groups, whether from fear of the Kattagari or intimidation factor, it didn't matter. The fact remained that they were ALWAYS there. Always on the boys, wherever they were. They were like determined shadows, and even the moonlight gave them enough light to stalk the men of Sanctuary. Aimee got more worried by the day, thinking it was only a matter of time before they killed one of the guys. But the Leopards were patient, and they seemed to enjoy taunting the bar as much as they enjoyed the thought of killing the Howlers. But Colt was determined not to push Anelise, though she seemed mostly back to normal. One day, she was pacing his dock, sweltering in the heat, while he sat on the dock, teasing the gators by swinging his feet just within reach and back out before they could reach him.

"Any of those things touch you, and we're having gator meat for dinner." She threatened idly from her pacing.

"Ah, but to get inside to eat it, we'll have to jump the moat you're slowly pacing away in my dock." He responded lightly.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes, but didn't respond, and he rubbed the back of his neck, dreading the upcoming topic.

"So… I have a request. One you're not going to like."

She narrowed her eyes at him, pausing in her pacing, but only for a moment. "Continue."

"Aimee's really freaked out because, ever since what happened-"

"The attempted assassination, you mean." She said, her voice icing over. He looked away. He could still take her ice, her cold fury, but it was harder since lately he usually got her fire, her passion and her warmth.

"Yeah. That. Ever since, Nera," He talked over her vicious snarl, "has been stalking Sanctuary. She's threatened to kill off everyone there the moment they step outside the bar."

"Are they dead yet?" She asked callously, and he shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Then she either doesn't mean it, or she's planning on fucking with them until they go stir crazy."

"We think it's the latter."

She stopped pacing, and turned to glare at Colt. "So why tell me?" She snapped.

He rose to meet her anger. "Because like it or not, you're still Regis. She's walking around claiming YOUR title, Anelise. And I know you don't have any reason to protect the bar, I would ask you to, for me, and for Aimee. To help keep us from losing more of our family."

"That's not fair and you know it."

"It's the facts, Anelise. You know that."

She snarled and turned her back on him. "Go to work. Tell me when she arrives."

"She hasn't come into-"

"She will." And with that, she vanished. He paled, wondering if he and his siblings really were destined to get her killed one of these days.

He went to work, and everything was pretty calm and normal up until about two am. The bar was cleared out and the only ones left were the Peltier House inhabitants and the cubs, running around causing general chaos. Colt was arguing with Zar about them being down here, especially after what Anelise had implied. But Zar didn't see any harm, and Colt didn't want to bring Anelise into any conversation with anyone around here. So he kept a close eye on the cubs, waiting for shit to hit the fan.

Little Misha ran to the far side of the bar to get a ball he and his brother were throwing around, and suddenly, in between him and the others, was Nera, looking pissed off and far too happy to be near a cub. Misha froze as five more Leopards appeared in a circle around him, cutting off him from his family, and his family from him. Zar made a move to run to him, but Remi grabbed him, seeing what Zar's parental anger blinded him to. One wrong move, and even if they managed to get past Nera, one of the others would kill Misha before they could save him. Nera shot a look to Misha that had him quailing back in fear, and then looked to the others littering the bar, on high alert. Colt sent a link to Anelise, calling to her for help, but she wasn't responding. Most likely debating the pros and cons of actually showing up to help. Not that he could blame her, but now the cubs were in danger. That had to change the stakes, even to her.

"You know what I hate?" Nera snapped, her blonde hair falling into her eyes. Colt hadn't been the first to notice that Anelise was one of the only Leopards he'd ever seen that had dark features; most looked eerily similar to Nera- white blonde hair, ice blue and pale violet eyes, pale skin and a preference to white clothing, the better to camouflage themselves in the snow. "I hate it when my information proves to be false. Devereaux, Remi, did you or did you not tell me she was dead? Because now, I have sources telling me that they were attacked by none other than the ghost girl herself. Care to explain?"She spat out the words as though they pained her to say.

No one answered her, no one even moved. She took a step closer to Misha. "Someone had better find me useful information, and had better do it quickly."

Aimee shot a panicked look to Colt, torn between wanting to protect Anelise and protect Misha. Suddenly, her decision was made for her as, in between Nera and the cub, a figure flashed in.

Anelise, snarling and clenching her fists, looking scarred and battle ready, her stormy eyes lit with fire and focused with deadly intent on Nera. "Go." She muttered to Misha, who wasted no time questioning her and dashed past Nera to his dad's waiting arms. Zar held Misha close as they all watched the showdown.

Nera had taken a startled step back, at a loss for once. "Anelise."

Anelise only smirked. "Regis." She corrected tauntingly.

Nera snarled but repeated, "Regis."

"I believe I told you to stay the fuck away from here, Nera." She bit out, glancing at the surrounding Leopards, who'd been smart enough to take a respectful step back at her arrival. "All of you."

"You did." Nera growled. "But you're supposed to be dead."

"You should check your source." She snapped. Nera opened her mouth to reply, but Anelise was done talking. She flashed right in front of Nera, grabbed her by the throat, and flashed them back to the wall, where she pinned Nera there, hanging a few inches off the ground. "You'd do best to not try to explain this away, cousin. It has become obvious that I've allowed you too much space to roam. It is a mistake I will not be making again." She brought Nera off the wall and slammed her back into it, denting the drywall. "Take your bitches, and run, Nera. Run to a place I will never find you." She advised, dropping Nera to the ground, leaving her clutching her throat, trying desperately to regain her breath, all defiance gone. Anelise watched her with pitiless eyes, and for the first time, Colt and Aimee understood why the Leopards obeyed her.

Suddenly, one of the younger girls leaped at Anelise's back with a screech. Anelise reacted without thought, spinning around and catching the girl in her ribs with a roundhouse kick. The girl went sprawling across the floor, and they got a good look at her. No more than seventeen or so in human years, she looked far too young for the malice in her eyes. Aimee felt her heart go out to the girl, and was surprised when Anelise was instantly at the girl's side, pulling the girl up by her hair. Anelise noted the panic from Nera on the other side of the room, and filed that away, her ice cold anger focused for now on the girl in her grip. "Who are you?" She asked.

The girl darted a glance at Nera, and Anelise yanked, hard, redirecting her attention back to her Regis. "Your name." She snapped.

"Kayley!" The girl yelped, grabbing at Anelise hand where it was buried in her hair. Anelise didn't bother smacking her hand away. She'd never break her grip. Her voice became sugary sweet.

"Good. Kayley. What's your relation to my sister-in-law, Kayley?"

"There isn't one."

Anelise gave one sharp tug and Kayley winced as Anelise spoke again, her voice dangerously sweet. "Kayley. I don't know what Nera has told you about me, but one thing she and I can agree on is that people don't lie to me for very long. Would you like a demonstration as to why?"

Colt held Aimee back as tears streaked down the girl's face. She looked to Colt desperately. ~She's just a child!~

He shook his head at her. ~Not anymore, Aims. She made her choice when she attacked her Regis. Leave it be.~

The girl shook her head, "She's my guardian." She said. Anelise nodded with a glance at Nera, who looked bloodhungry. "I thought as much. And your parents? Who were they to her?"

The girl glared up at Anelise. "Close personal friends."

"And where are they now?"

The girl's eyes sparked with fury. "Dead. Dead because you killed them!"

Anelise, to the shock of the others, only smiled, her voice never losing it's sugar. "Did I now?" She sounded amused. "Oh, Kayley, I can see how you'd think that. But I know the kind of radicals your parents were if they pledged to Nera. And would you like to know what really happened?" Her voice suddenly grew darker. "They killed themselves. They signed their death warrants the moment they decided to go against my will. Something you should consider before you follow in their very unwise footsteps."

The girl didn't back down. "I will kill you one day."

"I'd like to see that, little one." She suddenly slammed the girl's head into the ground, knocking her unconscious and eliciting a cry from Nera.

She flashed back to Nera, pinning her back against the wall with a shoe. Her precarious position could have made it easy for Nera to knock her off balance, except for the sharper-than-normal stiletto almost more a blade than a heel- of Anelise's boot pressed to Nera's throat. "So it seems we're at a stalemate. You know my weak spot, and I know yours."

The staff looked around at each other, wondering what she meant by soft spot. Aimee looked at Colt, who was decidedly not looking at anyone. Anelise continued, unaware of the curious stares behind her.

"So here's my deal. You and your silly little followers will follow my rules without argument or hesitation, or I will kill the girl." Nera snarled at the mention of Kayley, no longer caring that she was revealing exactly how attached to the girl she was, and Anelise smiled through her words for a moment, "What's more, I will tear her into iitty bitty little pieces, and leave them, one by one, on your doorstep. Do we have an accord?"

Nera snarled again but didn't respond, and the sugar was suddenly back in her voice as the blade pressed hard enough to draw a thin trickle of blood from Nera's throat, "Nera? I won't ask you again."

"We have an accord." Nera managed, the words more fury than actual speech, but everyone got the gist. Kayley started to rouse, and Anelise smiled again. "Good. Rule one; stay away from limanis, and their residents. If the Fates wanted you to hunt Slayers, they'd have made you a Sentinel." Nera only continued to glare, and Anelise snapped her fingers. "One last thing." She flashed back to Kayley's side, nudging her hard in the ribs with the harmless toe of her boot.

"Ow." Kayley muttered.

"Get up." Kayley glared but didn't disobey, and crouched with a hand on her head. Anelise bent down to look her in the eyes. "Just so you're aware of the little deal I've proposed, and that Nera has accepted; Nera and her little followers are to stay as far away from here, and anybody who lives here, as possible. They are to follow my rules to the last letter, unquestioningly and without hesitation. The price for any disobedience is your life, little one. I will rip you apart, piece by little tiny piece. It will not be quick. It will not be merciless. So it'd be in your best interest to make sure they stay away. Ok?" She chirped the last word.

Kayley continued to glare with hatred in her eyes, but nodded. "Ok."

"Ok…?"

"Ok, Regis." She clenched her jaw.

"Good. Now all of you, fuck off." The others looked unsure, and suddenly the fire was back in Anelise. "That was not a suggestion, people! GO!"

They vanished as one, leaving only Nera and Kayley. Nera flashed to Kayley's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, looking up at Anelise. "What of Devereaux and Remi? They conspired to kill you, and here you sit, protecting them."

"They are not your concern. You concern is that girl under your arm, and her future's looking shorter the longer you stand here." Anelise snapped.

"Well, when you're done being your mate's bitch, you know where to find us." She said, looking smug. Anelise growled. "You had better hope I don't, Nera. Because it won't end well for either of you."

Nera snarled in response, and flashed her and Kayley out. Anelise shot a glare to the staff of Sanctuary, looking disgusted with herself. Colt went to her side with Aimee right with him. "Thank you, Ana."

She took a step away from both of them. "She's right, you know. That's all I was tonight, is my assassins bodyguard."

"That's not how it-"

She cut Colt off. "I need to go away for a while. Do not follow me, Colton." She said before disappearing.

Colt sighed as Aimee looked close to tears. Then Trip spoke up.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say."

Aimee's infamous temper flared up, and she spun on Trip. "Oh, shut up, Trip! You have no idea what shit she's had to taken for you; for ALL of you!"

"She's taken nothing, Aim-" She turned on Remi, even more furious with him than Trip. "AND YOU! You don't get to speak about this. Because THIS-" she gestured around, "-ALL of this if YOUR fault! Your and Dev's! You almost got Misha killed, Remi! Anelise is the one thing standing between the Leopards and us! Have the last five months taught you nothing, you stupid ass?! They could kill us! They could systematically hunt down every last one of us, and do you know who'd care? NO ONE! We have no one but ourselves, and we almost lost that! So you had better be damned grateful that she did this, because she didn't have to. She opened herself up to beatings, and taunts, and insults, and more attempts on her life because Colt and I asked her to. For you. People she doesn't like who not only don't like her back, but tried to actively KILL her. So shut the fuck up and go fuck yourself, Remi. You and everyone else here!" She slammed her way upstairs, leaving the boys all eyeing each other uneasily.

No one spoke for a long few minutes, then finally, Zar spoke up. "Thank her for me, Colt. I may not like her, but she did save Misha. And for that, I'm in her debt."

Colt smiled wanly at Zar. "I'll tell her but she doesn't like debts, so I doubt she'll take you up on that."

Zar nodded, and carried Misha upstairs. Colt looked at the others, and Justin cracked a smile. "Thank her for me, too, man." Colt nodded to him in grateful thanks. But they were the only two who said anything. The others sneered and went back to cleaning or their rooms. Colt sighed and went back to the cabin in the bayou. She wasn't there, not that he expected her to be. He thought about her snow covered home, and linked to Zar, asking a favor.


	15. Chapter 15

A couple days later, she finally returned to the cabin, looking calmer than she had when she'd left. She shook snow out of her hair, and smiled at Colt. "Thanks for not following me."

He nodded, rising out of the bed where he'd been staring into space. "Feel better?"

She nodded, hovering in the doorway, unsure if she'd damaged their growing affection to each other by leaving. He crossed the space and drew her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "You went for a run?" He asked, some still lingering snow making his cheek cold where it rested atop her head.

She nodded into his chest. "I did. The north end of Siberia."

"You pick any fights?"

She tried to hide a grin. "Maybe one or two." She said, looking smug.

He laughed. "You miss your snow?"

She nodded, looking pensive. "It's not that your cabin isn't lovely, or that New Orleans is bad, I just… I'm not made for it."

"Then I have a surprise for you." He flashed them back to her home in the mountains near Baikal. She looked hesitant, and he laid an arm casually across her shoulders. "We fixed it up and put new barriers on it."

"We?"

"Me, Aimee, and Zar."

"Zar?" She asked, confused for a moment until a vision of a tall man holding a frightened cub in his arms came to her. "The father."

Colt nodded. "He wanted to thank you for saving Misha."

"She took a step forward, looking hopeful. "What sort of barriers?"

"Well, for one, it's only open to me and Aimee for flashing. You can change that, but I wouldn't advise it. People can only flash into the shed outside, which is rigged with a bell when the door opens. So no one can sneak up on you again. The door's bugged, you have to either open it yourself or give explicit permission to. All of your old guards are back up, plus a few extra from us three."

She looked around, unable to speak as she looked around at her home. "Thank you." she managed quietly. He grinned and led her inside, and over to her couch, and tugged her down to sit in his lap. She slid off it, not being a lap-cat type of personality, but left her legs draped across him, and they watched tv for a while, sitting in comfortable silence as she basked in the cold air. They fell asleep on the couch, and only woke once the sun was high in the sky, it's light bleached white by the clouds. She stretched, being careful not wake him, and walked around, taking in her home, once again her own sanctuary. She drifted into the kitchen, and stopped short when she looked at the fridge. A large picture was taped to it, of a family of bears. Signed at the bottom, Misha.

A letter was taped to it, and she wondered if Colt knew about this. She tore it open and scanned it quickly.

_Anelise-_

_You don't know me, or my son, but I'm Zar. One of Colt and Aimee's brothers, they asked me to help revamp your security system, and since Colt said you didn't like people being indebted to you, I agreed. But I owe you so much more for what you did for my son, Misha. If there's ever anything I or my wife can do for you, please ask. Misha wanted to thank you, too, so he drew you a picture. Sorry it's mostly bears, kid doesn't know how to draw much else, and wouldn't understand why you might not like it so much. I hope you don't mind._

_Thank you again,_

_Zar_

She felt tears prick her eyes and she looked back to the picture, a funny mix of bears and stick figure people. She saw Aimee, with a large pink bow on her head, and Colt, with his lighter fur than the others. She saw six smaller figures- Misha and his siblings, no doubt- next to a large male and another pink-bowed female. There were others, but she only scanned those quickly before setting the letter on the counter, making sure it was out of the way of any possible spills.

She'd never had anyone thank her for doing her job. It was odd. Pleasant, but odd all the same. She went back to Colt and sat next to him, flipping on a movie, keeping the volume low as to not disturb him. He eventually woke, and tugged her down with him.

"I have to go in for work soon."

She nodded, and he hesitated before, "Will you come by? Aimee misses you, she wants to make sure you're ok."

Anelise twisted her lips, unhappy, but nodded. "For Aimee." She allowed. He grinned, and nodded. He kissed her hard. "I'll call you later, alright?"

She nodded, and he vanished. She stood, stretching, and changed forms to go running out her door, out into her beloved snow, and raced across the open space in front of her, gleeful to have her freedom back.

Later that night, Colt called to Anelise, and she braced herself for the hostility of the bar. She flashed in and walked down the steps, and was met by a few glares from the Slayers by the stage, but that was about it. No quips, no insults. Colt must have spoken to them before she got here. She passed them without acknowledging them and took a seat at the bar, where Aimee had her back to her.

"What's a girl gotta do to get a drink in here?" She teased, and Aimee spun around, laughing in glee."Leopard!" She shrieked and threw her arms around Anelise despite the bar in between them. Anelise laughed and hugged her back. "Colton mentioned you were worried about my mental stability." She commented lightly. Aimee shrugged, looking unabashed.

"Well, you have almost been killed several times since meeting me. It stands to reason that you might be a little unstable. Or at least willing to avoid me."

Anelise laughed. "Please. It'll take more than a few near-death experiences to scare me off."

Aimee grinned, setting a large glass of wine in front of her. "Good. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Live peacefully?" She suggested as she took a drink, smiling at Aimee over her glass.

Colt came up behind her, snaking his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck, to both her and the rest of the Were's surprise. "Hey." He greeted.

She turned to nuzzle him back. "Hey yourself. How badly did you have to threaten them to get them to behave while I'm here?"

"I didn't, actually. Zar did it for me."

Anelise looked thoughtful. "Zar seems to be popping up everywhere in conversation lately." She commented.

"He's just really grateful that you did what you did for Misha." Aimee said. Anelise shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. She did waht she had to do, and that was it. She wasn't accustomed to being thanked so extravagantly. She sat, chatting with Aimee and Colt, ignoring the others and generally enjoying herself when suddenly, a small child came barreling down the stairs and threw itself at her. Unsure what to do with a child, she awkwardly patted him quickly on the head. "Well… hello." She said, out of her comfort zone.

"Misha! Leave her alone!" Zar's deep baritone rang out as he came down the stairs with two other children, one that looked slightly older than Misha, one that was a few years younger. Misha was obviously the youngest, and he grinned up at Anelise from where he hugged her legs. "Hiya Annie!" He chirped.

She cocked her head at the nickname. "Hello to you, too." She greeted.

"Didja get my picture? I drewed you a picture!"

She laughed, nodding. "I did, thank you. You're father was nice enough to put it on my fridge so everyone can see it."

Misha grinned. "Good! I worked hard on it, but daddy said you wouldn't like it cuz there were too many bears. Do you not like bears, Miss Annie?"

She smiled down at Misha, getting more comfortable as the seconds ticked by. "I happen to like bears very much. And you drew them so well!"

His grin brightened. "Would you like to know how to draw them? Then you can draw Unca Colt whenever you want!"

She darted a glance at Colt, who was trying to hide a grin, and to Zar, who gave her a look that said, 'If he's bugging you, just tell me.' She got up and followed Misha to a table. "I would love to."

He led her over to the table and got to work, showing her what colors to use for different Bears, and she studied his instruction very closely, giving him her undivided attention, to his delight. Zar let the others run over to the Howlers and start vying for the attention of the guys, and came over to where Colt and Aimee stood.

"Your mate's surprisingly good with cubs." He commented to Colt while Aimee grinned smugly from over the bar. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she started to win some people over. Looked like Zar was switching teams.

Colt just smiled, watching Ana laugh and talk with Misha. "Yeah. Who would've guessed." He said softly.

Aimee snorted, going back to restocking the bar. "I could've guessed that." She crowed, turning her back on the boys, smiling smugly to herself. Zar grabbed a broom and started sweeping up, leaving Colt watching Anelise with soft eyes. He would never have been able to relate that woman sitting with his nephew, laughing and ruffling his hair and paying him the utmost attention with the woman who- just days earlier- had been threatening a teenage girl who'd been trying to tear out her throat and slamming her cousin up against a wall because she'd disobeyed her if he hadn't been watching it with his own eyes. He started walking toward her with long strides until he was right next to her. She looked up at him with equally soft eyes and a small grin. "Hey," she greeted quietly.

"Hey." He greeted, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Having fun?"

She nodded. "Quite fun, actually." She said. Misha looked frustrated at the interruption. "Unca Colt!" He whined. "We're doing somethin' right now."

She hid a laugh and looked to Colt like, 'Huh, what can you do?' and Colt laughed himself, getting up. "I'm sorry, Misha. I'll leave you two to it." He said, his hand lingering on Ana's shoulder a little longer than strictly necessary before he walked away, over to where the guys were hanging out with the other kids. They very carefully held their tongues, and Colt hadn't been lying when he'd said it hadn't been him who'd threatened the guys. Zar had been in agreement with Aimee that Anelise should come to the bar, so he and Misha could thank her in person, and he'd been very specific that no one was to say anything that wasn't nice. If they had nothing nice to say, especially in front of the cubs, then they could just shut up and deal with her presence. Justin hadn't put up much of a fight- after seeing her defend Misha and the bar, he'd been fairly easy to convince to leave her alone. Alain had been careful to stay out of the whole situation; unless she cost him the bar's bottom line, Alain cared very little for politics and grudges. The others had put up a fight, but faced with Justin and Alain's acquiescence, Zar's determination, and Colt's solid stance, they eventually gave in, and agreed to ignore her entirely.

But he didn't miss the looks they shot at her while she sat with Misha in the corner. They didn't trust her, nor would they ever, but Colt had become all but completely unaffected by the fact. He trusted her, Aimee trusted her, and obviously cubs had nothing to worry about. So the guys could just deal.

They spent a few hours at the bar, but eventually the cubs were drooping from exhaustion, draped across the laps of the Howlers and Anelise. Zar and his mate came to collect the cubs and Anelise quickly backed away from Misha as Zar approached her. He shot her a small smile, sad that after an entire afternoon, she still didn't want to be near enough to strike after being near to someone's cubs. She backed away, watching Misha be carried away with a vague look of longing, until he and his father disappeared up the stairs, and then Colt was at her side again, a hand on her shoulder. "You ready to take off?"

She nodded, shaking herself out of her longing, and smiled distractedly at him. "Of course." They flashed back to Baikal and she immediately went for her bedroom, up that oddly placed ladder that led to a room he'd never understood a need for. He hesitated, wondering if he should follow her. Since the Slayer attack, she'd been more openly affectionate toward him, but she still hadn't been comfortable sleeping casually in the same bed. Then she'd been ambushed by her cousins and they hadn't returned to here for months. They'd mated at his little bayou home and had been sleeping in the same bed since, but he wasn't sure if that would hold true now that they were back in her element, and she wouldn't need the comfort of having him near.

She scaled the ladder, and he heard bed-springs creak as she threw herself on the bed up there, wherever it was. He'd never actually seen the room, so he wasn't even sure what furniture was up there.

* * *

She lay spreadeagled across her bed, enjoying the cold feel of the comforter against her skin. She'd missed being home so much it had been like a part of her had been missing. This place was as much a part of her as the Bearswain who she could almost hear warring with himself downstairs.

"Colton?" She called.

"Yeah?" She could hear relief, trepidation, hope, worry, all sorts of emotions that proved her theory right; he was battling with himself down there. She knew he wanted to come up, but she'd never extended an invitation. No one, in fact, had ever been up here. Not any distant family, no friends, not even the stray true-animals that roamed in every now and then. She couldn't bring herself to invite him up, but she could do the next best thing.

"So long as you're still down there, do you want to bring up something for us to drink when you're finished with whatever you're doing?" There. As close to a genuine invitation as she could manage.

She could still feel the hesitation, but eventually he climbed up the ladder and reached the top. She sat on her bed, unblinking, awaiting his reaction, trying not to care.

He looked around for a long moment, his dark eyes taking in her sparse furniture, her sheer white drapery across the floor-to-ceiling windows and the door that led to a deck. She waited, her face blank as he took it all in, and instead decided to take in him. He was so tall he almost made her massive space seem cozier, and with his arms crossed across his chest the sinewy muscles stood out, threading stark lines of strength down his arms. His chiseled features looked around, and she admired his strong jawline, his defined cheekbones, his sharp, dark eyes looking around. His body language was slightly more relaxed than it was usually, but he was still alert, still on guard. He was always alert, it was one of the things she loved about him; he was as guarded as she was, always ready for something to go wrong. Aimee was lovely to be around, she was relaxing and hyper and playful and always up for an adventure; but she was never properly prepared for disaster. At least with Colton she never had to worry about being caught off-guard. She and he were a perfect working pair.

Finally, he whistled. "Wow. I can see why you don't like sharing this place."

She cracked a small smile. "Yeah."

He crossed the space between them, his long, lean legs crossing the space between them in a blink. He leaned over the bed and pinned her to it in a hug, the same arms she was just admiring wrapping around her and suddenly they were lying on the bed. She laughed, "You're really into this whole 'affection' thing, aren't you?" She teased.

He laughed, squeezing her hard. "You got a problem with it?"

She shrugged from the warmth of his arms. "I suppose not. It's going to make my ice-queen image hard to maintain, though."

"Eh, Ice-Queen's been so overdone anyway." He teased, and she rolled her eyes as they fell silent. She tried to joke and tease with him, but it never lasted long. She just wasn't a jocular type. But he appreciated the effort. He broached what was sure to be a sore subject. "So… I've never seen you around cubs before…"

She smirked. "Surprised I wasn't shoving them into ovens and trying to eat them?" She asked archly.

He laughed. "A little, yeah." He admitted.

She shrugged. "What can I say; cubs annoy me far less than their adult counterparts."


End file.
